My journey to the Land of the Rising Sun - Day 2

On the second day, we boarded a Shinkansen (bullet train) from Osaka to Kyoto. The train station was a large, busy complex with lots of shops selling food and sundry items catering to busy commuters. While waiting for our tour guide to buy the tickets, we paid a visit to a nearby shop selling all kinds of bento (set) meals. The plasticised food on display looked so real and delicious indeed!

I ventured a little further away and found a kiosk selling mochi. Unable to read Japanese, I just relied on visuals to choose what I wanted. I chose 2 sakura mochi and 2 mochi filled with a fresh strawberry inside to be eaten later on our trip.

The 80km journey from Osaka to Kyoto only took 15 minutes on the Shinkansen, which travels at a maximum speed of 240 to 300 kilometres per hour. The cabin of the train looked very much like that of an aeroplane seating 4 abreast, separated by a single aisle.

Once in Kyoto, we were whisked off to the old, narrow streets of Kyoto to the Kiyomizu temple - a UNESCO heritage site. Kiyomizu stands for 'clear/pure water' in Japanese and is named after the waterfall that flows within the area. What makes the Kiyomizu temple so special is that not a single nail was used to build its entire wooden structure.

At the foot of the complex stands the Otowa waterfall. It is believed that drinking the water grants health, longevity and success in studies, which explains the long queue of people wishing to improve a certain aspect of their lives.

The Kiyomizu complex is surrounded by a pretty garden planted with lots of sakura trees, and when a sudden gust blows, the delicate petals of the sakura float in the wind looking like snowflakes gently falling down. We found a nice shaded spot to try our mochi purchased from the train station.

The narrow street leading to the parking bay was lined with old shops selling all sorts of snacks and souvenirs. We visited a well known shop - said to be the oldest shop selling mochi. Presented neatly on the counters were all kinds of mochi for sampling. One could just walk into the shop, sample as much mochi, feel full and walk out without buying anything. The shop also sold soft serve ice cream at the entrance. Mum tried matcha and sakura twist, while I ordered sakura only. Sakura ice cream is a novelty to me as I have never before come across anything tasting of sakura. It tasted delightful, but I'm rather curious to see if a real sakura flower tasted like the ice cream. It had a smooth, fragrant, flowery taste.



Tofu is a popular dish in Japan and Kyoto is famous for its tofu because Kyoto has a constant supply of good quality water from underground springs which is perfect for making tofu. We had an opportunity to try Kyoto tofu for lunch. The tofu was served in a paper hot pot with broth containing chicken, leek, cabbage mushrooms and a slice of salmon. Accompanying this was a plate of salmon korokke (croquette), ebi katsu (deep-fried, crumb batter) and chicken karaage (deep-fried in oil).

Our next stop was to take a walk down the old streets of Gion and also to visit the Yasaka Shrine. Unfortunately for us, the streets were devoid of geisha and it started to drizzle and we left our umbrellas on the bus. The Yasaka Shrine is a Shinto shrine and proved to be extremely popular. The shrine was brimming with activity despite the dreary weather while we tried to avoid getting wet. On our walk back to the bus, we saw a hanami taking place despite the dark, wet weather.

 

After a rather wet experience in Kyoto, we headed to Nagoya for a special unagi (Japanese freshwater eel) set dinner. Just outside the restaurant was the Nagoya TV tower, brightly lit up for the night. As part of the feast, we were served a bowl of unadon (rice bowl with grilled eel coated with sweet sauce), BBQ chicken wings (Nagoya chicken wings are the best!), a bowl of flat udon garnished with bonito flakes, a box of ebi katsu and tonkatsu served with tartar sauce. We had more than enough to eat that night!

Our hotel for the night was at the Nagoya Tokyu Hotel. A pretty decent hotel with a very classic renaissance feel to it. The rooms had ample space for romping around and there was a huge lit-up make-up table just beside the television. Not like I used it - I was afraid I might just crack the mirror by staring at it! 

My journey to the Land of the Rising Sun - Day 1

Here I am, back from my trip to Japan, still feeling slightly dazed from all the fun and excitement I had, but I still have enough energy left to tell my story. Let's take it slow and I will start with Day 1.

We left for the airport in the afternoon to catch a flight to Osaka via Hong Kong with a 4 hour transit. I felt really excited to be taking Cathay Pacific for a change rather than my regular Malaysia Airlines. Dinner was served on board this short flight to Hong Kong. We were offered a choice of either chicken or fish and I opted for the latter, thinking that chicken would be rather dry and chewy like overcooked chicken breast. It was fish cooked in a mild, spicy sauce served with coconut rice. For desserts, we had a sweet potato pudding and fresh cut fruit.

Some time after dinner, the pilot announced that our flight could not land in Hong Kong due to one runway being closed, and that we would need to divert to Ho Chi Minh City to refuel and to sit on the tarmac to wait out the backlog of flights arriving into Hong Kong which could take at least an hour to clear. Now, this was interesting as it was the first time that a flight which I had boarded had to be diverted due to some unknown incident. Later, we got the news that an Emirates aircraft had burst a tyre and was unable to leave the runway, causing massive congestion at one of the world's busiest airports.

We finally arrived in Hong Kong at approximately 11.55pm - more than two hours later than our scheduled time of arrival. This only gave us roughly an hour to clear security and to freshen up before boarding our connecting flight to Kansai International Airport at 1.25am. The flight to Kansai was fortunately a smooth and uneventful one. A meal was served about an hour after take-off but I hadn't much appetite to eat at that hour but still munched a little anyway. Again, we had two choices and I opted for the pasta with some creamy sauce over the fish with rice. One rather interesting point I noted is that for Japanese routes, cold soba is served on board.

We touched down at approximately 6.00am Japan time. During our taxi to the apron, I saw the red, blazing sun rising from the horizon and finally understood why Japan is known as the Land of the Rising Sun. It was a magnificent sunrise indeed! Upon arrival, we found a McDonalds upstairs and bought breakfast. It felt a bit strange buying something in a foreign land and not being able to understand the local language. I felt extremely handicapped as I usually do when I visit countries where English is not the first language.

From Kansai, we headed to Kyoto for our first stop at Kyoto Studio Park which is a small ancient Japanese themed setting with buildings and costumed actors from the Edo period. In the past, it used to be a movie set for filming ancient themed dramas which used to be popular a couple of decades ago, but which have now been replaced with anime. Greeting us at the entrance was a row of food stalls selling some local Japanese fare. It looked and smelled delicious but I already had my breakfast. We also saw our very first sakura tree up close and personal.



After watching an action-packed ninja performance at the theatre, we left the theme park for more sight-seeing at the Byodo-In temple. It is a very beautiful place with a very typical Japanese garden surrounding the ancient structures of the temple. Curved roofs, stone lanterns, a red arched bridge over a smooth glassy green lake are what you will see. Pretty pink sakura trees lined the pebble path around the lake.

We left the Byodo-In temple for the Uji region famous for it's matcha (fine powdered green tea). Lunch was served at a restaurant above a busy souvenir shop. This was our very first Japanese meal in Japan and the food was terrific! What I enjoyed the most was the fresh wasabi as it wasn't overpoweringly pungent like the green paste served regularly with sashimi or sushi.

We had an appointment with a sensei at 3.00pm to learn how to make proper matcha. On our way to our lesson, we saw two beautiful ladies wearing kimono crossing the bridge over the Uji river. They were adorned with so many pretty trinkets and looked just like a life-size walking Japanese porcelain doll. They must have arrived to join in the hanami (flower viewing) across the river. It was brimming with activity across the river with people strolling the pathways, families and friends seated on blue tarpaulins under the pretty pink sakura and lots of stalls set up along the side selling all sorts of snacks and souvenirs.

After a very enlightening lesson on green tea-making, we were treated to a delightful matcha ice-cream dessert served in hand-made pottery. No two pieces are the same as each is individually crafted. I was instructed that one should adore the fine piece of art while slowly scooping dainty mouthfuls of refreshing, smooth green tea ice-cream from the glazed ceramic bowl. It had a very strong green tea flavour, being fragrant but still subtle, making it a very delicate sensation on the palate.

We left Uji for Dōtonbori in Osaka - a buzzing, brightly lit strip with all kinds of famous Osaka food such as takoyaki (octopus balls) and okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza). Dōtonbori is indeed a very peculiar street with all sorts of amusing, eye-popping shop signs above the shop front from gigantic mechanised snow crabs to octopus, pufferfish, dragons and even flying cows! Dōtonbori intersects with Shinsaibashi, which is the city's main shopping area.

Our final stop for the night was Hotel Universal Port nearby Universal Studios Japan where we would spend the night. Rather than waste a perfect night cooped up in the room, we took a stroll to the surrounding area of Universal Studios. The theme park wasn't part of our tour itinerary, which is why we only got as far as the ticketing counters which were already closed at night. Nevertheless, it was good enough for lots of trigger-happy moments at the signature rotating globe and the grand archway entrance.

Back at the hotel, a most peculiar toilet awaited us in the room. The lid would automatically open once you opened the door to the toilet and stepped inside. I was very surprised that the toilet seat was heated. It also had all sorts of automated functions to pamper your rear end. Apart from the basic wash function, it also had a dryer, deodoriser and even a massager! Ahhh... a smart butt washer!