Posts Tagged With: food

Japan 2020 Day 13: Niseko (Hirafu Village and Kutchan)

Posted on January 18, 2020 by Mel

This morning I got up with B and caught the shuttle bus from Hanazono to Hirafu with a mission in mind! First – onsen time. I went back to Hirafu-tei and once again had the onsen to myself just before it closed for the lunch break. I then made my way back to the Hirafu welcome centre, purchased a delicious baileys hot chocolate and began a concentrated look out mission for the local bus. There are no labeled bus stops at the welcome centre – it’s a bloody bus/van free for all – and my plan tomorrow is to catch the local bus to the local train station and then catch that train to Otaru for a day trip….but I need to know where the local bus stops first! It was scheduled to arrive at 11:07am and I furtively noted its arrival and departure spot (relatively punctual because this is japan) from my coffee shop location. I also got pretty photos of Mt Yotei which was finally not fogged in.

After playing bus spotto, I wandered down the road to Tozanken ramen and grabbed a number. I was first in line! Woohoo. Their pork ramen is really good although only one slice of pork in the standard dish whereas Nakama (the place we ate last night) had 5 slices in their standard one and it was cheaper. I had the “set” this time which had really good gyoza and was ¥1100. I swear the ramen was better this time than the other day but I was really hungry….

When B got back from the snow we used the private hot bath at the accomodation again so he could relax his muscles and I could float around like a garden fairy while drinking vending machine hot chocolate….coz that’s what hot baths are for right? I also secretly love they are calling him B Smith as his name since I booked all the accomodation this time under my surname haha.

For dinner, we went to Izakaya Nidaime Samurai which was once again recommended by our accomodation. It was kinda like Japanese tapas! Bs friend who was also here skiing from Australia joined us. They had a lot of drink options here and apparently match really well to what dishes you order, we mostly stuck with beer and umeshu though. This place was super reasonably priced – we had 6 shared dishes and 9 drinks for ¥11000 between us all.

The food was excellent – sashimi, pork, chicken, salmon, Japanese omelette and sablefish were all delicious. There was nothing we tried we didn’t like! Except for me who tried sashimi for the first time haha….you can see below for how that went!

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Japan 2020 Day 12: Niseko (dinner in Kutchan)

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Mel

B went off to ski again today and I basically just napped, ate snacks and watched the snow fall out of the bedroom window.

In the afternoon we tried again for the private hot bath at the accomodation and this time we had more success! It’s interesting that they have styled it just like an onsen even though it is not an onsen and really is just a hot tub (water is from the tap, not a geothermal source).

Dinner was booked at our most fondly remembered Niseko restaurant – Nakama. Last time we came (6 years ago) Nakama was a hole in the wall place down a back street mostly frequented by locals in Kutchan. They didn’t speak any English but had a great reputation and were recommended by our accomodation. This time around they have moved to a “Kutchan Main Street” venue and are much busier since they received a mention in the Michelin Star guide book. I was next level excited to revisit the place where I first had ramen and gyoza….I ate so much I had a ramen baby belly! It was good. Really good.

Japanese food eaten today: katsu curry, ramen, gyoza, vending machine got chocolate

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Japan 2020 Day 11: Niseko (Hirafu Village and Kutchan)

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Mel

It snowed like crazy all last night and today!

Today B went out to ski and I continued my non-skiing adventures. We actually had decent snow fall overnight and today so he has had a great time skiing around Hanazono and Hirafu:

I am currently spending my days at local onsens and also trying out different food places in Hirafu Village! Hirafu-tei onsen has been my default onsen as its right near the shuttle bus stop and when I go in the morning I usually have it all to myself. I did try to access The Vale onsen today but despite what their advertising claims, they are not open to local visitors. Hirafu-Tei in the mornings is pretty quiet though, so I really enjoy sitting out in the hot bath and looking at Mt Yotei on my own. I have now worked out not to sit to close to the right side of the outdoor bath though as it’s next to a bloody chairlift! Don’t want to blind any poor kids.

I had lunch at Tozanken Ramen on the Hirafu Main Street. They open at 11am and I was there at 10:45am and joined an already long line! When you eat here you collect a ticket to help them seat you in order.

Considering they are based in the main village where everything is very expensive, their prices are reasonable (¥750 for my bowl of soy pork ramen) and it was good ramen. Not the best I’ve ever had but so far above the crap I ate at a ski cafeteria yesterday!

When B got back to the hotel after his day in the snow we had reserved the hot bath downstairs for ourselves for an hour. This is not a proper onsen (the water is not piped up from a geothermal source) but it is still styled like a traditional bath – you get naked, wash beforehand, sit in the hot bath. The difference here is you can make a private booking so we could actually go together rather than be gender separated. Unfortunately….it was broken *insert sad face here* so instead we went for a very quick soak at the Mt Yotei Hotel one before dinner.

For dinner tonight, our accomodation booked us into a Japanese bbq place that comes highly recommended called Orench. They said we needed a decent booking time there (it’s not a quick eat and run place) so allocated two hours to us between drop off and pick up.

You basically order small plates of different meats and then cook it yourself on a personalised bbq at your table. Awesome! The wagyu special rib was a highlight for us but we also tried beef tongue and chicken necks which were yum. Below is the sequence of me trying the beef tongue.

After we finished, we wandered next door to Sasa sake bar. They didn’t speak English but through pointing and lots of nodding we were able to try a bunch of different sake liquor flavours including:

– strawberry

– plum

– suzu

– orange

Japanese food eaten today: ramen, katsu curry, Yakitori (Japanese bbq), sake, umeshu (plum wine)

P.S. B’s friend discovered crab popcorn today. They are literal tiny crabs deep fried 😱

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Japan 2020 Day 10: Niseko (Hirafu and Hanazono)

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Mel

These next few days are going to be much of a muchness really! Day 1 of skiing saw B up bright and early at our accomodation in Hanazono – Freedom Inn. We like it here because it is off the beaten track so way less drunk muppets and bogans. B was at Hanazono at 8:30am on the dot ready to ski!

I caught the free shuttle bus from Hanazono to Hirafu upper village and went for a wander. I enjoyed the onsen at Niseko Prince Hotel which is a 5 min walk from the welcome centre. In winter it is open from 7-10:30am and 3-9pm at a cost of ¥1000. The outside bath view was stunning.

I then wandered around to some local shops and did some people watching while enjoying a baileys hot chocolate before I walked back (with a lovely view of Mt Yotei!) to enjoy an afternoon of reading at Freedom Inn.

B arrived back off the slopes just before 4:30pm and we headed off to the Hotel Youtei onsen together so he could enjoy a hot soak. Dinner tonight was quite late as we had to make a reservation to get into Steak Rosso Rosso in Lower Hirafu village and this was the only time they had. They are not a cheap option but are lovely for a treat meal. We went with their seat meal option which included a starter, entree, steak of your choosing and dessert. We chose the ohmi 150g steak which is a type of wagyu beef (A4 for anyone really into their steak) and it comes served medium rare with a hot stone so you can cook it to your own preference. The beef was delicious – so tender. I also had some Japanese plum wine called ‘umeshu’ which came served with soda water and was really nice.

Steps not counted today

Japanese food eaten: terrible ramen at a snow cafe, pocky, wagyu beef, Hokkaido scallops and uneshu plum wine

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Japan 2020 Day 9: Tokyo to Niseko

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Mel

Snow time starts now! We left the hotel at 8am and caught a metro (total freaking nightmare with luggage) a few stops to Ginza where we got on the “airport limousine” bus. Trying to work out train lines to the domestic airport had been problematic and this was much easier. Next time I would research more and try to find an airport limousine stop near our hotel so no metro was needed.

We arrived at Haneda Airport with plenty of time and checked in with JAL airlines with minimal issues. The JAL global app was very useful and I recommend it if travelling with JAL domestically. Bye bye Tokyo!

We were about 30 mins late departing which meant we were cutting it very fine in terms of meeting our coach to Niseko. We landed safely and relatively on time despite this in Sapporo 1hr later and hopped on a whiteliner transfer coach for the 2.5 hour journey to Niseko. The coach ride provides some amazing scenery.

We then arrived at Freedom Inn, our home for the next 7 nights! Here’s a stock photo since it was dark by the time we got here.

Annnnnd here’s a photo I took the next morning. So pretty!

We dropped our stuff off and headed out to our second onsen of the trip at a Japanese Inn located near Kutchan called Hotel Youtei. This is another one that has a sign saying no tattoos but is tattoo friendly to foreigners. After a lovely soak, we headed out for dinner. Unfortunately our first two preferences tonight – Nakama and Gaishin – were closed so we visited Vatten Ramen. We walked in just as they were closing (which we didn’t realise) so felt like jerks. The ramen was quite good but it is all chicken based and I think we prefer pork.

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Japan 2020 day 8: day trip to Mt Fuji, Hakone and Lake Ashii

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Mel

Today we went on a pre-booked day trip to Mt Fuji and surround with Viator. I did look into doing this on our own but without a car it’s almost impossible to do. This is the link to the specific tour we took: https://www.viator.com/tours/Tokyo/Mt-Fuji-Lake-Ashi-and-Bullet-Train-Day-Trip-from-Tokyo/d334-2142TYO_F800_F820. Make sure to read the terms and conditions carefully – if weather is shit, it still goes ahead and you will see NOTHING. We were very lucky we fluked good weather.

We used the metro to make our way to the Ginza pick up which was easy to find. We were picked up early and it turned out very awkwardly there was another person with the exact same first and last name as me – that caused a lot of confusion. We hopped on a 40 seater bus and did a few more pick ups before heading to our first stop – Mt Fuji.

Our bus was mostly Americans with some French and a few other nationalities thrown in. Usually I avoid Viator tours for this reason – the travellers on these sorts of things can be very entitled. This group was pretty good though. Our guide was Yabe-San and he did a great job explaining local history and telling us about the area we were driving through.

After about 2.5hrs driving from Tokyo we arrived at Mount Fuji fourth station. There was hardly any traffic going out of Tokyo it up the mountain as today was a government holiday – we paid the return price of that on the way out though!! We couldn’t go up to the highest accessible point by vehicle (fifth station) as it had snowed and the roads weren’t clear. We hopped out here for half an hour and looked at the gorgeous view of the southern alps. I also appropriated a rock….now I have one from Mt Vesuvius and Mt Fuji for my collection!

From here we drove for another hour (lots of bus time on this trip but we were prepared for that) to a Kawagachi lakeside lunch. It was a traditional hot pot style and it was really good, I was happy I paid a bit extra for it to be included.

We then drove for another hour (yep, lots of bus time haha) to go on a Lake Ashi boat cruise. This was only a short cruise of 15 mins but it was really pretty and it got us to the base station for the ropeway.

At Mount Komagatake ropeway we climbed into a cable car and everyone squished in like little sardines. I picked the wrong side so didn’t get a view of Mt Fuji going up.

Once we arrived at the top we realised the fog and clouds had started to come in and unfortunately this meant we couldn’t see Mt Fuji from the look out! Noooooo. Time for cute selfies instead.

We traipsed around a bit at the top and then instead of going up to the shrine, we elected to be first in line to come back down the ropeway to try and get good shots of Mt Fuji that way. Success!

Yabe-san then told us it would be 40 mins to the Odaware Shinkansen station where they dropped us to get a 40 min bullet train back into Tokyo rather than spending 2+ hrs on the bus. Unfortunately 40 mins turned into 90mins as the traffic coming down the mountain was super busy. We eventually got back into Tokyo at 7pm and then had dinner at the same place as last night because the ramen was just so freaking good

Viator trip rating: 3.5/5 the service was excellent but there is SO MUCH driving and you are so rushed in some parts but then in others your wandering around a gift shop for 45 mins. If you want to see Mt Fuji and you can manage 6-7hrs on a bus or train with minimal effort….it’s a winner. I did a lot of research on this tour as I was determined to get out there on my own and it really is just about impossible without a vehicle.

Steps today: only 2382! Lots of sitting on my ass haha

Japanese food eaten: hot pot, Sashimi, katsu sardines, pickles, ramen, revolting sour lollies, pocky

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Japan 2020 day 6: Osaka to Tokyo on the Shinkansen and dinner at Kobe Beef Kaiseki 511

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Mel

Booking Shinkansen tickets before you arrive in japan has previously been tricky. This is something you want to do a few days beforehand (at least) so you can get good seats – we found the smartEX travel app to be awesome. You need to authorise your credit card on it and make sure you take that card with you to Japan but all we had to do was stick the credit card in a machine and it gave us our tickets (both base fare and reserved seat in one) which we had booked a week in advance! We also made a last minute change to a slightly earlier train with different seats and it was very easy to do in the app.

Be aware of new rules from May 2020 about travelling with luggage, they are cracking down hard on it, especially oversized stuff. Luckily this didn’t impact us, we just got on and stowed our suitcases behind our seats in row 1 – a very good reason to choose the last row in a carriage! The seats are spacious, there are snacks available on board and scenery is awesome even when you fly past at over 250km an hour.

You can buy snacks and bento boxes at the little kiosks before you board the train and on the train, B bought this pork cutlet box for ¥900 before we boarded. I also like the fact that the Shinkansen trains have seated toilets (not squat ones) and lots of leg room at the seats. Something to be aware of is the location of the smoking room on each train – as a non smoker it stinks and the doors opening and closing only contains some of the smell.

Our hotel in Tokyo is in Akasaka (considered a bit of an upmarket district quite close to the city centre) and is a 2 min walk from Akasaka-Mitsuke metro station. The hotel is called Hotel Risveglia Akasaka and I picked it because it was close to the same price as APA hotels but definitely not an APA. We previously stayed in an APA hotel in Tokyo and the room was so small B couldn’t stand up straight or lay on the bed straight! So APA are cheap rooms but not great if you’re 6ft tall. This room is still small – only 16 metres square – but it has enough space to move around in and a full shower. It also has a gloriously SOFT bed! Our room looks over a cute little alleyway.

Dinner tonight was at my favourite restaurant ever in the whole wide world Kobe Beef Kaseiki 511 in Akasaka. I’ll be honest, it’s the main reason we came to Tokyo, It was a 2 min walk from our hotel and it serves some of the best Kobe beef in the world in a degustation format. The ‘511’ in the name of the restaurant comes from their mission to use only the best – A5 grade beef with a beef marbling standard value of 11. As a result of the beef quality, it’s not cheap – about ¥17000 for one person – but it is absolutely amazing food and the service and wine pairing are great.

B says “everytime I come here I think is it worth it…then I eat the steak….and it’s so good”.

Steps taken: 7000 (nap day today!)

Japanese food eaten: pocky, bento box with katsu pork, weird Japanese hot chocolate, Kobe beef and all sorts of other oishii (delicious!) food at A511

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Japan 2020 Day 5: last day in Osaka (ramen museum + Tempozan)

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Mel

Today we went out to the ramen museum before exploring Tempozan which is part of the Bay Area in Osaka. The ramen museum is about a 20 min train out of Umeda to the Ikeda station, from there it is an easy 5 min walk up to the museum. Although everything is in Japanese they have an English paper guide and the volunteers there are great.

Entry is free and for ¥300 (about $4 AUD) you get to decorate and make your own cup of noodles!

There is apparently also a 90min ramen making class but you have to book in advance for that and I left it too late. After eating more ramen for lunch, we made our way out to Tempozan which is considered the second largest entertainment area after universal studios in Osaka. We started off with the aquarium which had an entry cost of ¥2300 each. It’s main claim to fame is the ginormous tank in the middle and it’s whale shark.

We also really enjoyed the seal feeding show, I snagged a spot at the front by sitting on the floor which meant little kids could stand behind me rather than push in front like they usually do.

After the aquarium we wandered over to the Naniwani Food Theme Park which was inside the shopping centre and behind the food court. It looks like old style shops and showcases local authentic food like katsu, okonomiyaki and ramen. We went with okonomiyaki again 🙂

The sun was almost set by then so it was Tempozan Ferris wheel time! The line up for the totally clear carts was 30 mins long but a standard cart had no wait….I wasn’t sure why people felt the need to look through a clear plastic floor so we went with standard and B still got some killer photos.

Steps today: 15508

Japanese food eaten: pork ramen, gyoza, okonomiyaki (veg and pork), Asahi beer, pocky, vending machine coffee can

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Japan 2020 Day 3: exploring Osaka

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Mel

Our tiny little apartment here has 5 doors worth of sound proofing….which it needs because the train is literally 2 metres from the balcony. We slept very well though (despite the rock solid bed) so obviously the soundproofing works.

Today’s weather was 8-14C which for someone who now survives Canberra winters is no big deal lol. B said it was “perfect weather for wandering around”….so wander we did! I was glad I grabbed my jacket at the last minute though as the wind was freezing. We went on an adventure to find Kiji Sky okinomanyaki restaurant which is in the Umeda Sky Building basement and comes with rave reviews. They are also another one of those places that has a Michelin Star but is still very cheap – we have found one in Singapore as well in the past. We had to go on quite a trek to find it through shopping malls, train stations, strange alleyways and underground passages.

We eventually made to the basement level of the Umeda sky building where everything looks like old shops….and discovered every single thing was labeled only in Japanese and signage was limited. Thanks to google and other people posting photos of the front, we found Kiji Sky at shop 11 and it was amaaaaaazing. We did have to queue for about 30 mins before getting a seat but it was totally worth it.

After our early lunch (¥750 for one savoury pancake split between us) we caught the nearest metro train to Osaka Castle and did some exploring there. The sun had well and truly gone by this point and all the photos are quite grey. Osaka Castle is quite different to the other ones we have seen in Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara because it was fully destroyed about 6 different times since the 1500s so has been rebuilt from photos and pictures each time! This means on the inside it has very little old world charm as it was rebuilt in the 1950s to more modern design and construction standards.

We headed back to the hotel for a rest and to put some extra layers on before venturing out for dinner to the local Hankyu Sanbangai Food Museum which is basically an awesome food court located underneath a shopping centre….attached to the huge Umeda train station. A few travel blogs I read said this was a great, cheap option as they were all small, individual retailers and had lots of choice. We went Hokkaido style for dinner and had pork ramen, gyoza and beer.

We are going to bed early tonight to ready ourselves for tomorrow’s day at Universal Studions Japan! Eeeeeek.

Step count: 16 050

Japanese food we have eaten today: Okonomiyaki (pork), chocolate pocky, tiny red bull and a can of hot chocolate from a ridiculous vending machine, ramen, gyozo and Asahi beer for B.

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

Japan 2020 planning is full steam ahead

Posted on December 23, 2019 by Mel

We leave on Jan 6th from Canberra and arrive in Osaka late on Jan 7th. We had planned to trial the “Murray’s bus” as an option for transit to Sydney this time but with all the bushfires happening here and the accompanying road closures, we have instead decided to fly. We are doing our international legs through AirAsia (once you try their flat beds you’ll never go back) which is awesomely comfortable although it does unfortunately include a few stop overs for extended periods. We are going to try out the SamaSama airport hotel at KLIA2 for the first time this trip – no clearing customs needed!

Fun stuff booked and/or planned so far includes:

Osaka Jan 7-11th

  • Universal Studios – I bought us express line tickets for the flying dinosaur ride hahaha
  • Tempozan Ferris Wheel
  • Kaiyukan Aquarium
  • Tracking down some excellent okonomiyaki places

Tokyo Jan 11-14th

  • Mount Fuji day trip. In winter we may get an amazingly clear day where we have stunning views, or we may get rained out. We are rolling the dice to find out!
  • Dinner at our favourite restaurant in the whole world (so far) Kobe Beef Kaiseki 511
  • A visit to the Harajuka cafe area and possibly trying out monster kawaii cafe
  • Maybe a visit to Disney Sea….I’m still undecided on this

Niseko Jan 14-21st

  • Snow for B man! He plans to go all over the mountain plus a day trip to Rasutsu
  • Onsens and relaxation for me
  • All the ramen and dumplings I can eat

Categories: Japan Snow Trip | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blog at WordPress.com.