Urutora No Hi

"Makan" Club Outing - Lunch At Pasta Zanmai

2009-11-09T00:18:00.005+08:00

Me and a few friends at the office have this so-called club that we call the "Makan" (which means Eat in English) Club. We contribute a certain amount of money each month and we try to arrange for a Makan outing every few months or so. Last month, we decided to go to Pasta Zanmai. I duly got a few Panora Magazines because there were discount coupons inside that we can use at the restaurant.

The gang, 10 of us and growing...

Happy faces with our respective orders. Most of us went for the set lunch that day which are a good value and we shared pots of tea. A pot of tea (RM3) is refillable and they do give extra cups for us to drink.

I had a busy time that day because almost everyone in the gang asked me about the menu and the food there. LOL

I was pleasantly surprised that the "old" staff were back at the restaurant. I ranted about the bad service Zaini and I received when we were last at Pasta Zanmai, with their batch of new, clueless staff in the restaurant and had not been back to this place ever since that visit.

Not only that our waiter (the cute one that I like too was back! Hehehe) was patient enough taking our orders - my friends are an opinionated bunch and they do like to query about almost everything, they obliged our request to split our bill 4 ways; because we have four RM10 discount vouchers from Panora magazine. So obliging of them. You bet that got favourable response from my gang.

Food as always were satisfactory. Certainly no complaints about it.

Great improvement on your service Pasta Zanmai! Keep up the good work.

Street Food At Yoyogi Park

2009-11-07T00:21:00.002+08:00

Out of desperation due to the packed crowd that Sunday on Sep 20th, which happened to be a long weekend (Silver week) in Japan, we weren't able to find any decent place to have lunch that did not require us queuing for our seats. The huge crowd felt like the whole Tokyo population just came out to play outside that day. @_@

It was a really hot, sunny day and pretty soon we got a tired boy walking slowly, needing fluids to quench his thirst and food for his empty stomach. What to do when you are really tired from the hot day and all the eateries were jam packed with people? Out of desperation, we opted for street food. They weren't exactly cheap, but hungry stomach cannot be too choosy! And I'm not a nice person when I'm hungry, a fact that Zaini is fully aware of.
Yoyogi Park was abuzz with people on Sunday and more so that Sunday due to a Vietnam fair held there.

We just chose a quiet spot away from the Vietnam fair to have our lunch. After our walk in Shibuya and Omotesando, we had enough with crowds by now.Our lunch. Okonomiyaki, yakisoba and takoyaki. I'm sorely missing the Osaka takoyaki. Those takoyaki were sooooo nice!

We decided not to board the train at Harajuku because the station was already bursting with people and walked further ahead and use the subway instead. We made a stop at Yodobashi-Akiba and Raimie got to buy a few toys. A treat for him for being such a good boy today.

Sea Of People In Omotesando

2009-11-04T13:46:00.000+08:00

Sept 20th was our 5th day in Japan and not only was it a Sunday, it was a long holiday for Japan. Hence, it was really packed with people all coming out to spend the day with friends and family. And that Sunday happen to be Eid too, and Muslims all over the world celebrated the end of Ramadhan (the fasting month).

We went to the Malaysian Embassy dressed in our traditional costume (me in my baju kurung and Zaini and Raimie wore their baju Melayu). Afterwards, we just went sight-seeing in the nearby area.

Me, in my traditional baju kurung in Omotesando. I did say that I'll be wearing one in Tokyo, didn't I? Raimie had his Baju Melayu on earlier, but we changed his shirt afterwards because of the hot weather. Nobody bat an eye at me wearing my baju kurung. Zaini opined that people must have thought that I'm Vietnamese, coming from the nearby Vietnamese Fair at Yoyogi-Park. There was a huge Vietnam fair there, and with a really good response from the Japanese crowd too.

Walking along Omotesando, we saw mikoshi (portable shrine) bearers. The one that caught my interest was the children carrying a small mikoshi. So cute.

And there was a taiko (drum) performance too.

And also a parade showcasing Japanese and Korean culture. Very interesting. It was a relief being under the shades for a while, watching the parade. It was really hot that day!

Sea of people. Despite the huge crowd, we weren't pushed or jostled at. Everybody walked patiently and in somewhat rather organised way. That being so, I wouldn't want to be caught with this many people again any time soon!

Lucky for us, our lifeline and main transport while in Tokyo, the Ginza Line wasn't that crowded so it was rather a relief taking the subway away from Omotesando afterwards.

A Malaysia Biggest Breakfast Meal At Mizu, Bangsar Village

2009-11-02T13:05:00.001+08:00

A break from my Japan post this time.

On Saturday, Zaini and I went to Bangsar Village for the Mall's fund raising event, Malaysia Biggest Breakfast in support of the National Stroke Association of Malaysia (NASAM). A two-day event which was held on 31 Oct and 1 Nov 2009, the Malaysia Biggest Breakfast event saw F&B outlets in both Bangsar Village and Bangsar Village II sponsoring the breakfast sets available from 10.00am to 11.30am on the two dates. All proceeds from the sale went to NASAM. Customers needed to donate a minimum amount of RM15 and get a meal voucher.

Although there were so many restaurants to choose from (23 restaurants to be exact), is it any surprise that we chose to go to a Japanese restaurant? We made a beeline to Mizu. We even managed to persuade a friend to forsake Sakae Sushi and made her and her family chose Mizu too. Hehehe...

Mizu's entrance.

There were five breakfasts set to choose from; Hot Udon Set with Futomaki, Salmon Shioyaki Set, Saba Shioyaki Set, Unagi Set and Tempura Set. I went for the Salmon and Zaini went for the Unagi.

My friend on the other hand, ordered all the sets available for her family. No photos though. Not nice to hijack somebody's else breakfast time with my relentless photo taking. Hehe

Ultraman Drinks For Raimie

2009-10-31T00:06:00.001+08:00

One of the highlight for Raimie vacationing in Japan is Ultraman. We went to Hero's Base in Kawasaki and he was able to meet a couple of Ultra Heroes there. A post on that later (much much later). We came to know about these Ultraman drinks because of Farah's photo of it which she posted on Facebook. Thanks Farah!After passing by Dydo vending machines selling drinks which included cider drinks in an Ultra Heroes cans that Raimie cannot fail to notice, not buying one for him would be unsporting of us. We allow him to have a can most days and he got to bring back the cans home for his collection too. And the drinks cost only 100yen.

A happy boy getting his "reward" is a cooperative boy even when he's bored, tired or cranky.

Ekiben - Niigata

2009-10-28T20:08:00.000+08:00

Taking the Steam Locomotive BanEtsu Monogatari-go at 3.25pm, we arrived Niigata station at 7.00pm. Our next train was at 8.17pm, on the Joetsu Shinkansen Max Toki to Ueno station. Deciding against eating at one of the restaurants scattered in the station, we opted for ekiben for dinner.
The ekibens look absolutely yummy, right? Salmon, salmon roe, mushrooms, eggs, fish egg and chestnut. They were so delicious! And we kept the red bento boxes as souvenir.

Check out for more Niigata ekiben selection here.

Ekiben - On the SL Ban Etsu Monogatari

2009-10-26T21:01:00.000+08:00

Our bought ekiben in the SL Ban Etsu Monogatari-go. Read more about the SL Ban Etsu Monogatari-go here.

Instead of the food/snack trolley pushed by a train attendant in other long distance train, this locomotive has a shop selling food items, drinks and souvenir items. Customers buying things at this shop got postcards as free gifts.

We bought the only two ekibens that didn't contain "buta" (pork) and a miniature SL train. We had to wait patiently for others to finish their purchases before we can ask the shop staff about the ekiben ingredients. Lucky for us, the staff was nice and patient enough to answer all our questions about the food ingredients. We would have gotten an exasperated look from the staff and other customers if we were to do this in Malaysia (or any other Asian country).

Our meal - salmon eggs, lotus root, bamboo shoots, mountain vegetables, kamaboko, mushrooms amongst others. The green wrapped item in the ekiben in the front was dango wrapped in a leaf. There were actually pieces of chicken inside, but we just push them aside. :(

One of the ekiben covers had this train cut-out. A pretty nifty souvenir to bring back home.

All ekibens come with a pair of chopstick, a toothpick and a wet towel. A complete set to enjoy your meal without worries.

Our miniature train. Zaini is a train nut, both riding one and playing with them.

A Ride On A Steam Locomotive

2009-10-23T00:01:00.005+08:00

SL Banetsu Monogatari-go is a special express train that runs on a 126-kilometer track from Niigata to Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima and vice versa. This steam locomotive is a C57-180 type train that was in service from 1946 to 1969.The train made a comeback on Apr 19, 1999 celebrating its 10th year anniversary this year.

This trip of ours was covered by JR East Pass too and we used this journey for our second day of our 3-day pass.

Passengers can enjoy the magnificent scenery from the large windows in the observation car. The seats here were hugely popular so you had to rush to get one.

At one of the stops. There were 9 stops made from Aizu Wakamatsu to Niigata station but only two that were long enough to allow passengers to go down and take photos around the station.

Letters sent from this train will be mailed in the original issue postmark. We sent a postcard we got as a gift from the shop to our home. Another unique souvenir for us. A train postmarked postcard!

The journey was kept lively in between the stops with passengers playing jan-ken (rock, paper, scissors) with the train staff to win train goodies such as keychains, straps, magnets and stickers. It was great fun participating but we didn't win anything.

It was interesting to note that the interior of the train and the uniform of the crew were designed in a style unique to the Taisho era which is also the period when the Banetsu line was opened.

The seats inside the train. Four seats faced each other in all cars so it was pretty comfortable for a family to sit and enjoy the scenery together during the trip. However, we were unlucky enough (because we reserved our seats quite late compared to the others) to be sharing our facing seats with a particularly fat, perspiring guy on this leg of our journey.

I don't know what was his reason for taking this rather slow train from Aizuwakamatsu to Niigata because it sure looks like he wasn't taking it for the love of the train or the scenery. What he did were mostly sleep (so soundly that he snored) and eat and took up 3/4 of the seat. But we didn't let it spoil our trip, but rather it made the trip quite amusing for us.

The overall journey was simply an awesome one despite us sharing seats with the guy. The SL Banetsu Monogatari-go follows the Agano river through the densely forested mountains and the scenery was fantastic. If you are travelling from Aizuwakamatsu on this train, make sure you are seated on the left side of the train. More scenic views from that side. And along the way, you get see locals waving at you and the train and also quite a number of photographers waiting to get the perfect shot of this train. You can wave back and stick out your head because the windows in this train can be opened. We didn't open ours because it'll interrupt our seat mate's deep slumber. *^-^*

The train only runs on weekends and holidays so if want to take a trip on this train, please take note of the schedule here.

To Aizu-Wakamatsu And Of A Red Cow

2009-10-20T13:02:00.005+08:00

After checking-out from Taenoyu Onsen, we departed for Aizu-Wakamatsu for the sole purpose of getting on the steam locomotive SL Banetsu Monogatari-go to Niigata; which will be in my next post. From Tazawako Station, we went to Sendai before going to Koriyama. There, we hopped on the Rapid Train on JR Banetsu Saisen (West line) - fully covered by JR East Pass; for about an hour to Aizu-Wakamatsu. Koriyama Station is 1 Hour and 20 Minutes from Tokyo Station by the JR Tohoku Shinkansen Line.

Taking the rapid train to Aizu-Wakamatsu on the Banetsu Saisen. Rapid trains have fewer stops than a local train making the journey much faster. This train however, doesn't run that often, just one every hour so it was quite full by the time it was time to start the journey. Not that it matters much because...

it was a scenic route getting to our destination. Rows and rows of yellow paddy fields. Of mountains and valleys. Lovely... Although we had to stand for the almost one hour journey, it went by quickly with such a lovely view. Luckily we managed to get Raimie a seat so he spent that whole journey playing with Zaini's Nintendo DS Lite. Raimie's newly bought Nintendo DSi were safely stashed away in our backpack.

In front of Aizu-Wakamatsu station. We didn't sightsee far from the station as we only have a few hours before our scheduled train ride on the SL Banetsu Monogatari-go.

Watching a soba maker in action.

Our simple lunch while waiting for our train eaten at the park nearby.

Raimie with a mechanised Akabeko. Beko, is an Aizu dialect for cow; thus akabeko means red cow. Akabeko is a traditional toy from Aizu. The toy is made from two pieces of lacquered papier-mache, shaped and painted to look like a red cow or ox. One piece represents the cow's head and neck and the other its body. The head and neck hangs from a string and fits into the hollow body. When the toy is moved, the head thus bobs up and down and side to side.

According to legend, akabeko toys are based on a real cow that lived in AD 807. The townspeople constructed a large temple there dedicated to Buddha and heavy loads of lumber had to be transported long distances using the brute strength of oxen and one of the animals used was a reddish cow. The cow refused to leave the temple grounds after construction had been completed and became a permanent fixture there and became a symbol of zealous devotion to the Buddha.

The earliest akabeko toys were created in the late 16th or early 17th century.There is a believe that the akabeko toys act as amulets against illness. The Akabeko makes a good souvenir, don't you agree?

Another souvenir that you can see in this region was of items with the portrait of Hideyo Noguchi.

Photo source : Bank of Japan

He should be a familiar face to those who are familiar with Japanese 1,000yen note. He is a revered Japanese bacteriologist born in 1876 in Inawashiro, Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. He conducted important studies of the causes of syphilis, trachoma, Oroya fever, and yellow fever.

Inawashiro rests on the shores of Lake Inawashiro, one of the largest lakes in Japan. During the Edo period, it was part of the Aizu domain, and was the home of Aizu's secondary castle town.

Just thought you'd like to know a bit of history. :-)

Passing Time And A Bus Trip At Tazawako Station

2009-10-18T14:43:00.004+08:00

Stopping at the modern looking Tazawako Station building before our onward journey to Lake Tazawa, waiting for our bus to Tazawakohan, we passed time by walking around the rather cool looking Tazawako station. At this station, there is a modern, well-quipped tourist centre.

We spent a bit of time here, looking at photos of the area that was on exhibit and looking through local crafts that were put up there, especially the dragons on display. And at the tourist centre, there's even free internet service, if you need to be online . So cool!

The station building, with its very modern building with glass facade, even received the Good Design Prize. Walk around the tourist centre for more information on the area. Tazawako Station was also selected to be one of the Hundred Stations of Tohoku.

A cute illustrated map of the region and its attraction. While we were there, we saw a few cyclists getting ready for their onward journey. It would be so cool to cycle around the area. A car rental service is available nearby should you want to drive around yourself.

The surrounding area was a bit quiet. There were stores around and a pharmacy but if you are looking for a convenience store, you have to travel a bit to find one. Our advise, buy your stuff before you reach this station.

After spending some time walking around the station, checking out some stores there while we were at it, our bus arrived.
A complete change from taking a bus here in Malaysia, buses in Japan were highly punctual and the drivers are all courteous and polite. Helpful too, I might add.

Taking a bus in Japan might test the patience of us Malaysians though. The bus (those few that we've been on, at least) never speed (felt like they were always on a 30km/h) and always always stop at the designated bus stop if there were people waiting there. You don't have to flag for the bus because the buses will always stop for you.

Buses are always clean, and taking this bus to our journey for Taenoyu Onsen were stress free because we didn't have to second guess our stop. There were announcements upon reaching each stop so you won't accidentally stopped too early or a stop too far from your destination. I wish the RapidKL buses (and the Metro buses too) had these features.

How do you know how much to pay? Just look at the board and the fares will be displayed there for each corresponding stop.
Don't have small change with you to pay the fares? Don't worry, there's a note changing machine on the bus, just beside the slot where you pay for your fare. It can even change a 10,000yen note!

A note for those staying at Tsurunoyu Onsen. If you have arranged beforehand for a pickup at Arupa Komakusa, don't worry about needing to look for your pickup there. When the bus arrived at the Arupa Komakusa stop, your car (or van) and the driver is already waiting for you and you actually drove away before the bus do! That's service!

On our trip back, Raimie being a bit rebellious and sulky, pressed the bell while we were halfway on our way back to Tazawako Station. I guess if this happen back home, I would just pretend ignorance (so bad of me, kan?) but I just had to apologise to the bus driver (especially as I think he would have waited for someone to disembark) and the rest of the passengers. Luckily nobody glared at us. Phew!

From Tazawako Station, we travelled to Sendai then Koriyama before taking a Rapid Train to Aizu-Wakamatsu for our next adventure. Stay tuned.

And bye-bye Nyuto Onsen and Tazawako! Perhaps we'll come back next year.

Taking The Akita Shinkansen Komachi To Tazawako Station

2009-10-15T13:00:00.001+08:00

I know this post should go up first before my posts on Lake Tazawa or those of Taenoyu Onsens (1, 2 & 3) earlier, but better late than never!
Going to Taenoyu Onsen (which I had put up a few posts earlier), we started our journey from Ueno station to Tazawako station on the Akita Shinkansen Komachi. A 3 hour trip that was covered by our JR East Pass that would otherwise cost 15,000yen. (And we got our 3-day JR East Pass for a mere 10,000yen & 5,000yen for Raimie). Do make sure to book your seat in advance if you plan to board this train as seats on all Komachi trains are reserved.
It is always fun for us to be on the shinkansen platform and see all those bullet train stopping, connecting and whizzing off. Of course, being on an outdoor platform is much more exciting than being on an underground platform like in Ueno, but we aren't complaining!
Here, the Komachi train was connected to the Hayate train for the onward journey from Tokyo to Morioka. The trains will then be separated to continue their journey to Akita and Hachinohe respectively.

The Komachi train; named for a famous and beautiful poetess from Akita, travel from Tokyo to Akita in about four hours with trains operating once an hour.
The Komachi train is a mini shinkansen, with only 6 cars.The interior of the Komachi train. Sitting in a shinkansen is always comfortable. And so much more room than in the economy section of an airplane. A coat rack, an overhead luggage area and a food tray to enjoy our ekiben and a snack trolley coming along selling food items and souvenirs. There were even magazines available to read during the journey. What more could we want?

Getting A Complete Breakfast At Toyoko Inn

2009-10-13T22:00:00.000+08:00

All Toyoko Inn hotels in Japan provide free breakfast for their guests. Most branches that we went to previously offered Japanese breakfasts which consisted of onigiri (rice balls), miso soup and assorted array of pickles apart from green tea and coffee. There are exception to this. At Toyoko Inn Nanba guests were served freshly baked bread for breakfasts. For us, we love the Japanese breakfast!

For our personal experience, having stayed at more than half a dozen Toyoko Inn chain around Japan, this particular branch offers the most delicious array of breakfast. And that's why my tummy is getting rounder and rounder each day we are in Japan. I ate too much for breakfast because breakfast was such a feast!

Coffee machine in the dining hall, offering black coffee, American coffee and espresso. Coffee is available for guests to enjoy all day long. So far, this branch had the most coffee offered at the coffee machine. Previously at other Toyoko Inns, it usually was a pot of coffee made available at the lobby area.

One side of the dining area. The biggest dining area of all Toyoko Inn chain we've stayed in. But during the public holiday period, this area was so packed that guests were allowed to bring up their food tray to their respective room to enjoy their breakfast. After the public holiday (Sep 25 onwards) breakfast time was much quieter.Onigiri (rice balls), rice in rice cooker, furikake, pickles, miso soup and tea to choose from this table. Pretty generous with the buffet selection what with the Japanese breakfast of rice and miso soup but also bread with toaster available. The pantry ladies who were responsible for the delicious breakfasts were very efficient replenishing everything too.

We really, really ate well there.Bread with margarine and strawberry jam selection. Also available here are some Japanese style veges, salad and sausages with ketchup and mustard available.

Raimie enjoying breakfastRaimie's big breakfast on our first morning there. Pickles were a must for him and Zaini.

Our breakfasts on subsequent days while we were staying at the hotel. The ones with pickles were Zaini's and the ones with bread was mine.
I ate plenty of gobo while in Tokyo! Coffee, bread, onigiri, hot rice and miso soup. Hot tea for Zaini and orange juice for Raimie. What more could I want for a breakfast?

Our Room At Toyoko Inn

2009-10-12T08:20:00.001+08:00

Rooms at Toyoko Inn are pretty standard, so you get pretty much the same at any branch anywhere in Japan. Sometimes, uniformity is nice especially when when trying out new places and you didn't want any unwanted surprises at the hotel you booked for your vacation.

Our room. Each room in any Toyoko Inn come with pyjamas for guests. No cupboard here, so luggages need to be stored under the bed. Some Toyoko Inn branches do have cupboards in their room. The biggest one we had so far was in Hakata Eki-mae.

Standard size small TV, an empty mini fridge and a table. Certain branch has a humidifier in the room, small round table suitable to enjoy your food and a cupboard in the room.

Complimentary tea - green tea and plum tea. For me, I just make full use of the coffee machine at the lobby. If the branch didn't have coffee available at the lobby, there will be complimentary drip-on coffee sachets in the room.

No cupboard, just a place to hang our clothes. Having no cupboard did make the room look a lot bigger though.

Bathroom and the amenities provided. As you can you see in the photo, both the sink tap and the shower/bath tap shared the same pipe. I guess it help to save some space. The bathroom is small. But we love the deep bath tub here. It was very nice to soak in hot water with your body fully immersed in the water while you sit upright in it. Trust me.

We initially thought to stay here for a few nights and after coming back from Taenoyu Onsen, we had already booked rooms at Toyoko Inn Asakusa Komagata which we are more familiar with, having stayed there a few times before. But we managed to change our reservation and made this branch our base the whole time we were in Tokyo instead. The reason in the next post.

In the mean time, check out some of the rooms at other Toyoko Inn we've stayed in here.

Making Toyoko Inn Asakusa Our Base While In Tokyo

2009-10-11T00:00:00.000+08:00

Almost all our hotel stays while vacationing in Japan will be at one of Toyoko Inn Hotel chain. They have a hotel almost everywhere in Japan! Not to mention cheap too. A double room at Toyoko Inn costs us less than 10,000yen. That and with free breakfast thrown in, makes the hotel our choice, every time.

Toyoko Inn is essentially a business hotel offering cheap, no frills facilities for weary salaryman. With the low price, come a condition. You have to be out of your room by 10.00am and are only allowed to enter your room after 4.00pm (3.00pm if you are a member of the Toyoko Inn Club. And you get 30% discounts for stays on Sundays and public holidays too, but that's another story which I will elaborate later) because during that time, all rooms are opened up for cleaning.

We don't have a problem with not being able to enter our room during the day because we'll be much too busy sightseeing anyway. But for those needing a rest and returning to their rooms early, Toyoko Inn might not be a good choice. I read many complaints from US/European tourists about this arrangement in several travel forums, but you got what you pay for! I have yet found another hotel chain that offers a room for less than 10,000yen a night for the three of us that offers us a private, clean room (as opposed to staying in hostels) with our own bathroom, free breakfast, free internet access, free gifts upon check-in and so much more.

Rooms are very clean. Front desk staff are always efficient, even if they might not understand English, but most have at least a staff who are able to assist non-Japanese speaking guests (like us!) Hotel entrance. Compared to other Toyoko Inn branches, this hotel have a big lobby.

Free gift for guests after check-in procedure completed. So far, we got plenty of socks, padlocks and notepads for our free gifts. Cool! By the time you are reading this, Zaini has more than a week's worth of socks to bring back home. Shows how many nights we had spent at Toyoko Inn.

They give out a ladies set too for lady guests. The ladies set may contain cotton bud, hair band, onsen salt, shampoo and conditioner and even facial cleanser, which you can request on subsequent days you stayed in too. What it contains, I found differ from hotel to hotel.(Or was it due to the year and time we check-in?) This time, I even got a slimming gel! @_@

The lobby area. There were vending machines, coffee machine, ice machine and water available for guests. Need to pay for your drinks from the vending machine of course, but the rest are free for all. There was iced mugi-cha (barley tea) served in the evening too here for guests to enjoy. There are also two computers with internet access and a printer for guests to use free of charge. If you need a laptop to use in the comfort of your room, you can rent one for a mere 1,000yen a day. Also available at the lobby are phones that you can use free of charge for local calls but please limit your calls at 3 minutes. My blogging friends in Tokyo were used to me calling them in a 3-minute period by now.
Also available are coin laundry machine, dryer and detergent vending machine too. We need this facility as we came to Japan with just 3 t-shirts each and a pair of jeans that we wore. We need to do our laundry every 3rd or 4th day of our vacation.

Next up, photos of our small but comfortable room.

p.s.There are more than one Toyoko Inn branch in Asakusa. I'm respecting Zaini's wish to not mention in which Toyoko Inn in Asakusa we stayed in because Zaini doesn't want this branch to be too well-known for our own selfish reason. Hahaha

A Picnic Of Sorts - Having An Ekiben At Tazawako Station

2009-10-09T08:06:00.000+08:00

And a time to enjoy Akita Komachi premium rice. Akita Komachi means Beauty of Akita and is both a reference to the fair ladies for which the region is known for, as well as its famed local rice.

The original roots of Akita Komachi derive from a well-known brand-Koshi-Hikari; as one of the highest quality of Japanese rice. Akita is one of the best suitable places for the rice fields in Japan and produces the highest quality choice rice in all over Japan, with fertile soils, pure fresh water fountain headed to its abundant forests. The rice's sticky texture stays the same when the rice gets cold. Of course this is great for onigiri (rice ball), sushi, or bento.

We took the Akita Shinkansen Komachi train, which was an all-reserved train from Ueno to Tazawako for our overnight trip to Taenoyu Onsen using our JR East Pass for the trip. This trip is fully covered using JR East Pass and Japan Rail Pass.

Leaving from Ueno quite early in the morning, we decided against buying any ekiben at Ueno Station or in the train and was hoping to check out the ekibens sold at the station's shops.

Our ekiben for the day. Limited choice for things to eat at Tazawako station, but this ekiben was a good one for us. Do note that the dumpling in this ekiben has chicken in it, for those avoiding to eat any meat.
We had lunch at the park just outside Tazawako Station, while waiting for our 1.13pm (or was it 1.17pm?) bus to Tazawakohan (Tazawako Lake). Look how interested Raimie was, checking his ekiben.

Appreciating Japan Through The Ekibens

2009-10-08T00:05:00.000+08:00

This will be one of many posts on ekiben. We not only love to ride the trains in Japan, we love to indulge ourselves to the ekiben that were offered at each station we stopped by or bought inside the trains itself. Last year's trip to Japan was a gastronomic affair of ekibens for us as we traveled from Kyushu to Tokyo, stopping in between for not only sight-seeing but for the ekibens too. I didn't write posts about the specific ekiben that we ate in each region, traveling upward last year, so I thought I might just do it this time around.

Unfortunately this time, there weren't many opportunities for us to try out different region choice of packed lunch because we were limited by our JR East Pass to travel in just 3 days. We bought a 3-day JR East pass for a promotional fare at only 10,000yen per person to travel on JR East trains. It was a bargain!

The word ekiben comes from "eki-uri bento," or "lunch-box sold at train stations". Ekiben (boxed lunches or lunch-boxes) are widely popular for their local flavors that feature many different kinds of specialties found only in respective regions of the country. Some of these ekibens decorative boxes and even earthenware that can be re-used later. We kept some of the boxes and brought them back too.

It is also important to note that the ekibens purchased at railway stations are completely safe for consumption because Japan's rules and regulations are extremely stringent. All the contents are clearly written and a sticker with information on the exact time when usold lunches/dinners will be collected and discarded! I read a news about a minor scandal involving sale of expired bentos some years ago. I guess that's why we never saw any ekiben or bentos sold at hugely discounted price because it is near to its expiry period!

While there were plenty of choices of ekibens to choose from; both at the train stations and in the trains, both Zaini and I had somewhat limited choice because as Muslims, we do need (in our case here, try as best as we can) to avoid meat products that were not slaughtered in the Islamic way and of course, Pork. However, the staff selling these ekibens were helpful enough to answer all my questions about the ingredients of the items they were selling. Nobody rolled eyes at us for asking too many questions. And we try to be considerate by not asking questions about the ingredients when there were other customers there even if that meant eating lunch way after 2.00pm when there were lesser crowd (or buying ahead).

Enjoying A Bowl Of Oden At Home

2009-10-07T00:04:00.003+08:00

We've been back from our vacation in Japan less than 1 week and still missing the good food there. One of the food that we set out to eat in Japan was oden and there will be one post about us venturing to the back alleys of Asakusa to find oden. And no, we didn't buy the oden at a konbini.

We decided to have an oden meal at home during the weekend because both Zaini and I do like to eat oden.

Oden soup mix bought at Jusco.

Some stuff to put into the pot. Nothing much because this was my first try cooking oden at home. We got a daikon, chikuwa, eggs, atsuage and some other deep fried stuff.

Everything simmering away in a pot. Pretty soon, our house were filled with the smell of oden. No worries, we love the smell.

Time to eat!

A friend asked me whether oden would be similar to yong tau foo. I guess in some ways but unlike yong tau foo where we blanched the food items in hot water just in a few minutes, items for oden are simmered quite long. Any other thoughts on oden from those in Japan?

A Japanese Feast - Breakfast At Taenoyu Onsen

2009-10-05T00:01:00.003+08:00

If at 5.00am the hall and baths were pretty deserted but by 6.00am, the staff were already up and about. Despite them being busy sending trays and trays of food to the two dining halls for breakfast, they didn't make any noise at all. I on the other hand felt like I was a baby elephant with my heavy footsteps. The day before, we had already set 7.30am for our breakfast. Knowing that we came by bus and train (shinkansen) the staff checked on whether the timing would be OK for us.

Last night's dinner was at the lounge so for breakfast we got to eat in the Japanese dining room. I came in wearing just my yukata. A bad idea if you can't stand sitting with your legs folded under. Can't sit cross-legged because I'll be revealing too much!

Raimie was given a small table on his own, seen here holding a piece of nori.

Me, in my yukata

We ate almost all the things served, including the natto. We didn't inform before hand that we wanted to avoid certain meat dishes for breakfast (we took it for granted there weren't going to be any for breakfast) but there were some bacon ready to be grilled included in our breakfast that we were suppose to crack an egg over it. We declined to eat that and the staff quickly extinguish the burner. Not seen in the photo are the rice and miso soup.

Everything was great and both Zaini and I both agree that the natto served here was way way better than the ones we ate previously (in Japan and Malaysia). Before our breakfast ended, Raimie was given some grapes. Smaller grapes than what Raimie had before in Tokyo. A bit different in taste but still absolutely yummy!

And we were asked whether we would like some coffee. I just love the coffee cup and the presentation.Not to mention the wooden spoon.

The staff remarked that we ate our breakfast far too quickly. LOL No time to sit around unfortunately. We need to pack up and wait for our bus!

Talking about bus, when you check-out, a staff will send you until you enter your car and wave you goodbye until you were out of sight. Then, she will bow deeply for a few seconds and wish you well. We witnessed this because the mother and daughter whom I wrote about in earlier post checked-out before us. A staff would have waited for us while we waited for our bus, but that would put too much strain for her (by having to converse with us) and for us too. Sensing that we like to be left alone, she went inside but quickly came out when the bus approached the ryokan. She waved us goodbye and off we went back to the city with a heavy heart.

It was definitely a great experience, and we are looking forward to such experience again in future. Even if it meant that we need for fork out a pretty sum to pay for a night's stay (for our standard, that is)! Actually, a night's stay here cost just a bit more than what we would've paid at Nikko Ginza (and at Nikko, we didn't get any dinner or breakfast).

Into The Hot Water At Taenoyu Onsen

2009-10-03T00:02:00.003+08:00

Read my previous posts on Taenoyu onsen here and here.

After settling down in our room, we decided to check out the hot spring baths Taenoyu has to offer. We took turns with Zaini and Raimie going to the baths first while I sat and relaxed in our room. After Zaini and Raimie came back, it was my turn to enjoy them. There's only one set of key so if one of us (the one holding the key) wasn't finished bathing yet, the others have to wait outside if we didn't take turns.

Although rooms at the ryokan were fully booked (there weren't that many rooms at the ryokan to begin with anyway), the baths were pretty quiet. When I went in, there were just a mother and her daughter enjoying the indoor bath. After I came out from the shower, they were gone and I got to enjoy the bath all to myself.

I guess we were pretty lucky to get the baths to ourselves most of the time because we can take photos of the baths uninterrupted. We wouldn't have dreamt trying to take any photos if there were people around!

The communal changing area. One in each side for each gender. Like the baths, the communal changing area of female and male are switched at 8.00am and 8.00pm daily. That means, guests can enjoy all the baths that Taenoyu has to offer. Mixed bath included. There are four baths that were gender segregated, two mixed and one private bath available here.

At the changing area, you put your slippers in the slippers cupboard, walk inside, take off all your clothes and place them in one of the baskets available there. There were towels available there for wiping your body dry afterwards.
Shower area. There were face cleanser, body wash, shampoo and conditioner available. Take a shower before you hit the bath. There were four shower stalls in each area with a cubicle so you do have a bit of privacy while washing up. Not that it matters as you'll soon be walking naked to get to the baths.

Rock style outdoor bath with a view of the mountain slope. I absolutely love this bath so much so that I took a dip there more than twice! This bath can be clearly seen from the corridor inside as it had a clear glass door instead of screens.

An indoor bath located on the upper floor with pebbles at the bottom of the bath. Both of these two baths are located in one section. The rock bath located on the lower level and the indoor bath on the upper level.

An indoor bath at the other section. At this section of the baths, you immediately enter towards the bath after changing out of your clothes to walk to the shower area. Might be a little bit intimidating for first timers if there were people around at the bath.

An outdoor bath where you can lie down and rest your head on one of the head rest and enjoy your bath in tranquility. These two baths were in the other section. I got to enjoy these two baths first before being able to enjoy the other two mentioned above later at night.

View from the private bath. The private bath can be reserved for an hour by staying guests. We chose to enjoy this facility after dinner at 8.00pm.

The mixed baths (two of them) were located next to the private bath. Both the private baths and the mixed baths were located in the middle between the segregated bath area. Ladies were allowed to wear a towel when enjoying the mixed bath while men can't.

A shrine located just outside the bath area.

After enjoying our bath after dinner, we slept like a baby. It was that good. Both Zaini and I woke up at 5.00am and excitedly went to the baths again. At 5.00am, there was only one male guest using the bath. It wasn't a total darkness because by 5.00am, the sun was already up in Japan. I went into the rock bath first before heading to the bath on the higher floor. By 6.00am, the mother & daughter guests that I saw the day before went in to enjoy their bath and I finished mine by 6.30am. Totally refreshed and looking forward to our breakfast at 7.30am.

A hot bath in the morning sure opens up my appetite! But you have to wait for post on our Japanese breakfast.

A Japanese Feast - Dinner At Taenoyu Onsen

2009-10-01T12:31:00.002+08:00

Another part of our stay at Taenoyu Onsen, this time about our dinner there. For the first installment, read it here.

There were two dining halls at Taenoyu Onsen. One was a European influenced lounge complete with a fireplace and the other was a Japanese style dining room. Our dinner at 6.00pm was at the Lounge. The staff seems to know all the guests and we were ushered to our table without so much asking for guest name or room name.

Each table was marked with the respective room names. I forgot what our room was called.

The lounge area, with plates and burners ready to for the guests. By 6.00pm, it was already so dark here that it felt like we were having dinner at a much later time.

Our dinner was a several course dinner, I lost count by the 7th plate. The portions were small, but with so many dishes served, we didn't leave the table still hungry.

Photos of our dinner. The food was explained to us in a mixture of English and Japanese (mostly Japanese because I think they took it that I did understand what they were talking about), but I forgot what most were called. So just enjoy the photos with a few odd explanation. :-)

A bowl of tsukemono

Seasoned konnyaku

Mountain vegetables, I think it was fern. Hahaha makan pucuk paku all the way in Japan!

Nice and chewy top shell. Even Raimie loved it.

Mushrooms ready for grilling. I didn't know grilled mushrooms (eaten with the accompanying lemon and seasoned salt) can be so delicious.

The pride of Akita region - kiritanpo, here eaten as kiritanpo nabe. Kiritanpo is cooked rice that is kneaded and then toasted on a skewer. It is then cut into 5-cm lengths and cooked in a pot with burdock, Chinese leeks, Maitake mushrooms and other seasonal vegetables. A staff lighted up the burner and soon the pot bubbled away and it was time to enjoy the nabe.

Originally designed as a portable meal carried by woodcutters and hunters working in the mountains, its name comes from its shape, which resembles a tanpo-yari (leather spearhead sheath enclosing a cloth ball filled with cotton).

Sashimi
More soups - plenty of kinoko (mushroom) inside
Foiled baked salmon with mushroom and broccoli

Udon served in a cypress cup.

Raimie is such an old hand at slurping noodles. He can make all the appropriate slurping sound too.

Last dish before getting our dessert. We actually put this dish aside because there were meat inside. Out of curiosity, I asked what type of meat were cooked in the dish and was informed that it was horse meat. The phrase : "nani niku?" and "niku wa arimasu ka?" is two favourite phrases of mine when checking on what food to buy. Pardon the atrocious grammar.

Caramel ice cream with fresh cream ended our dinner.

The menu. We were given a copy of the menu as souvenir.

We ordered just two sets of dinner for the three of us because we don't really eat much, fully expecting to share the sets with Raimie. But the hotel was kind enough to serve portions of the meal that weren't already on the table (those needed to be grilled and cooked on the burner) to Raimie. So he didn't need to share his rice, his udon and his ice cream. All at no extra charge, we learned later. Wasn't that kind of them?

Time sure went by fast, we finished our dinner well into 7.00pm. We usually didn't take that long to finish our dinner! The staff here were attentive, always on hand to explain the dishes served and to quickly cleared up empty plates and putting new dishes in front of us and asking whether everything was fine with us.

After dinner, we head to our room for a rest before getting into our reserved private bath at 8.00pm. Then, it was time for some zzzzz...... We hit the bed before 10.00pm! Oyasumi nasai (good night).

Back From Tokyo

2009-09-29T21:30:00.001+08:00

I'm interrupting the continuity of our trip posts to inform you guys that we arrived Malaysian soil safely yesterday evening in one piece despite a few hiccups along the way. A near accident and a flight delay; again on our way back to Malaysia.

We didn't exceed our baggage allowance, with just 50kg of checked-in luggage to bring back home. We brought three bags from home to Japan. A backpack with our laptop inside and our travel documents, the silver colour bag for our clothes and toiletries and that big orange bag that we filled with festive cakes and cookies for friends in Japan.

We brought back the same three bags; the orange bag now filled with souvenirs, clothes and stuff we bought in Japan, a 730mmx440mmx360mm (or something,I forgot the correct dimension) box filled with newly bought toys for Raimie, a new Nike bag laden with stuff like keychains, phone straps, etc. And a plastic bag for a Gundam model (we bought two Gundam models). And don't forget, Zaini bought a bicycle in Japan. @_@

Security at Narita Airport wasn't as bad as last year. We've got to went through two scanners last year instead of the usual one before going through Immigration. There were still people who still seem oblivious to the liquid prohibition and still brought in bottles and bottles of water and drinks. Do you know that miso paste is considered liquid too? Don't bring any miso paste in your carry-on luggage!

Zaini met our ex-supervisor in the plane. We used to work under him years and years ago. He still recognised Zaini but I don't think he recognised me. ;D

I had fun watching a few Japanese movies and TV shows on the plane. I got to watch "The Proposal" on our way to Japan two weeks ago, and for this return trip, I just watched everything Japanese! I watched a particularly sad movie titled "Dear My Love" and actually cried in the plane! Sappy me! LOL

Do come and visit often and there'll be plenty more posts on our trip to Japan soon!

An Onsen & Ryokan Experience At Taenoyu Onsen

2009-09-27T00:00:00.012+08:00

After much research prior to our trip to Japan, we finally decided to make a reservation at Taenoyu Onsen which is one of eight ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in Nyuto Onsen located in the Tohoku region of Honshu.

We were raring to go to Tsurunoyu Onsen at first. Tsurunoyu Onsen is the oldest operating ryokan of Nyuto Onsen. A ryokan so rustic that it does not have plumbing or electricity. But Taenoyu Onsen wins over because of the fact that we actually managed to communicate with the ryokan staff via e-mail.

Taenoyu Onsen is a modern, well equipped ryokan that sits beside the Sendatsu River. Special characteristics of Taenoyu Onsen is the dark golden brown waters. There are seven baths visitors can enjoy at the onsen and we tried them all.

For first timers visiting both an onsen and a ryokan, Taenoyu Onsen comes highly recommended by us (and you know how fussy I can be, right?). The staff there, while not thoroughly conversant in English, know enough to explain their services, giving directions and food offered to guests. Of course, knowing a little bit of Japanese doesn't hurt either. It may not be a luxury ryokan, but still, the service that was accorded to us got us a little bit flustered because we don't get to experience this kind of service often (make it almost never!)

From Lake Tazawa, we took a bus to Taenoyu onsen (bus fares from Lake Tazawa: 350yen , from Tazawako Station: 800yen) and there was a bus stop directly opposite Taenoyu Onsen. Make sure you press the bell when you hear "Taenoyu Onsen mae" - which meant in front of Taenoyu Onsen; being announced in the bus. If you missed the stop, don't worry because the next stop is just a few metres away so you can easily walk back.
Immediately after we alighted from the bus, we were greeted by a staff who was already waiting in front of the ryokan (took a few seconds to alight from the bus as we need to pay for our fares upon exiting the bus). I guess the staff there are well tuned to the sound of stopping vehicle to know that guests are coming. Funny thing was, we were mistakenly thought to be a Hong Kong couple that were also checking in that day. (Yeah, we get that plenty of time in Japan. We were always thought to be tourists from China)

Exterior of Taenoyu Onsen. We were quickly ushered in, asked to change our shoes to indoor slippers and completed our check-in.

The lobby area. The ryokan was fragrant with the burning of incense. Soft, soothing music was played continuously making guests feel relaxed and stress free. There were slippers for indoor wear (green colour), toilet slippers and slippers to be worn outside. Our shoes were safely stashed away out of sight.

Our room. We were shown to our room and tea were made and served. While we were enjoying our tea and sweets, the staff explained to us about the amenities at the ryokan. Earlier, she had shown us the communal sink, toilet and dining area. (Yes, we didn't have a bathroom in our room).

Reservation for private bath time and dining arrangement were done too, all while sipping our hot tea.

View from our room. We slept while listening to the sound of the stream. It was so relaxing. Of course, with such a nice view, we couldn't resist taking a photo. How do we look in our yukatas? The ryokan even has yukata for children of all sizes. Raimie tried a couple on, until the staff found the right size for him.

Toiletries provided which includes a small towel to be used in the hot spring. Facial cleanser, body wash, shampoo and conditioner were available in the shower room located at the changing area.
Slippers to be worn in the toilet. It is a no-no to bring in your indoor slippers in to the toilet. Leave them outside the toilet, OK? :)

The communal sink and sink inside the ladies toilet. Two stalls available downstairs and one in the changing room. I preferred the one in the changing room as it had a bidet there. Toilet seats in both places were nicely warmed so my butt didn't felt cold.

Not having a bathroom in our room was not an issue here. For me, it just felt that I was staying at one of my relatives' (albeit wealthy one) place. Our room was located on the same level as the toilet so that helped too,I suppose. Though walking to the toilet at night, one have to tread lightly as the wooden floor creaks and make sounds. Wouldn't want to disturb other guests. For info, there are rooms with in-room bathroom available but they were more expensive than ours.

The room felt very small when we first entered it (it was a 6 tatami room), but after settling in, we felt the room was just nice and cosy for us. While we had dinner at 6.00pm, our futons were laid out ready to be used. Even the tea sets were changed and wet towel were provided too for us.

Raimie absolutely love the futon, rolling around and playing hide and seek under the blanket. And it was so hard to coax Raimie to wake up the morning after (Raimie is an early riser normally and would wake up way earlier than us!)

Me, the next morning before breakfast pretending to be a Japanese guest of yesteryear. LOL

Next up - our onsen experience; mixed bath and all and our Japanese meals in a ryokan.

Naked In Tawazakohan (Lake Tazawa)

2009-09-25T00:00:00.017+08:00

What? Do you really think I'd be naked in the lake? ;)

I was posing as the statue of Tatsuko. The legend was, a beautiful girl called Tatsuko wished for her youth and beauty to be preserved forever. She thus drank the water of a spring, as she was advised to, and turned into a big dragon, which sank to the bottom of the lake. During the winter months, her dragon husband joins her in the lake, and the warmth of their passion causes the lake never to freeze.

Lake Tazawa is located in Akita prefecture and is the deepest lake in Japan at 423mtrs (by comparison, Tokyo Tower is 333mtrs tall). The lake is an almost perfect circle of 20km of circumference and is also know for the clarity of its water (2nd in Japan).

We took the Akita Shinkansen Komachi (reserved only cars) from Tokyo to Tazawa-ko station which was about a 3-hours trip and then took a bus to the lake area. More exhaustive posts and photos of the shinkansens will be up later. We used our JR East Pass to reserve seats and board the train at no additional charge apart from the 10,000yen per adult we paid when buying the 3-day pass.

Bus to Lake Tazawa. Bus fares was 320yen per adult and took exactly 13 minutes. Don't worry about not knowing where to stop. Buses in Japan have announcements on all approaching bus stops. Pretty helpful for first time visitors.

View of the lake:
We decided against taking the ferry around the lake as we didn't want to be late for check-in at Taenoyu Onsen afterwards. Boats depart from the Shirahama beach and cross the lake to Katajiri, where the Tatsuko statue is located. Return tickets are available from both places (1,170 yens, 40 minutes, 4 times per day). There were pedal boats too, but the rental was too high for us. At 1,000yen for half an hour and looking at the choppy waters of the lake, we settled for a walk instead.
After walking by the lake shores, we decided to head to the souvenir shops at the rest area nearby and looked at local specialties. Almost everything in the shop has a sampling box, so you get to try them all even if you don't plan to buy anything. We bought a postcard of the statue of Tatsuko to send back home.
If you have more time to spend, why not rent a bicycle and ride them and enjoy the scenery.
After that, we board the bus and head to Taenoyu Onsen for our overnight stay there. We were greeted with more awesome scenery along the way. Yellow paddy fields, ready to be harvested. And breathtaking view from the mountain area. We passed by forest of pine trees before arriving to our destination.

My next posts will be of the ryokan we stayed in, Japanese breakfast and dinner and our onsen experience (being naked and all). Though no nudity will be shown in this blog!

Eating In Tokyo - Day 2

2009-09-23T00:01:00.003+08:00

Day 2 started with some bread for Raimie which we bought at a nearby Lawson's. There was a Lawson's outlet literally at Nikko Hotel Ginza's doorstep.

Then, Raimie had dango (dumplings made from rice flour, served on a skewer) for snacks in the late morning. We paid only 85yen for 3 sticks of dango. The actual price was 105yen, but there was a 20yen discount sticker on the packaging so we saved 20yen. Any savings counted! LOL

For lunch, Raimie had some bread; rich in chocolate taste, some grapes (which he said tasted like mangosteen) and drank Calpis. The grapes were awesome. We had some later, and we will never look at the grapes sold in Malaysia the same again. Love, love, love the grapes. :D

For dinner, we head off to Yayoi-Ken, located nearby Tawaramachi station.

Here, you buy your food ticket from the vending machine. No worries if you don't understand Japanese because there were pictures of the food on the machines to help you decide on what to eat.

After we were shown to our table, a staff asked for our food ticket and left a stub of it for us. See how much our dinner was. Just 1,380yen. We didn't order another set for Raimie because at Yayoi-ken, diners can eat as much rice as they want.

While waiting for our food to arrive, we had some tsukemono (Japanese pickles). Raimie loves them. He ate all the pickles that I put on the plate for him, then...

he nicked some of mine too!

I chose the Sanma set at 790yen. A bit more expensive than Zaini's set due to the lotus root dish seen in the photo.

Zaini went for the Saba set at 590yen

Some photos of the restaurant:

I was too busy eating, I didn't notice Zaini taking this photo of me. :D

By the time we finished dinner, we were completely full. We ordered only two sets between the three of us, but immediately upon being seated, Raimie was given a kiddie plate and fork and spoon without having to ask for it. Good service eh? And the portion was enough to be shared with Raimie.

Just want to add another memorable experience at the restaurant. After we bought our food ticket, we had to stand around as all tables for 3(or 4) were already occupied. A man, sitting alone at a table for four shifted to the next table and motioned for the staff to wipe the table and gestured to us to sit down. Despite our language barrier, he was really helpful showing us the tsukemono, the rice refill area and generally being kind enough to make sure we eat right. A nice man...

Window Shopping In Kappabashi-dori

2009-09-22T00:08:00.002+08:00

After checking out from Nikko Hotel in Ginza, we head off to Asakusa. We will be staying there at Toyoko-Inn Senzoku for a night before making our way to Nyuto Onsen the day after.

Checking-in completed, we went out to explore Kappabashi-dori, the famous kitchen town located between Ueno and Asakusa. Here in Kappabashi, one can find an excellent array of specialized stores for ceramics, dishes, cooking utensils, stoves, tables, chairs, signs, lanterns, food packaging, bento boxes and what many tourists would associate the place for : plastic/wax food.

Starting point for our adventure to Kappabashi. Mark that huge statue of a chef to start off your culinary adventure here.

Ceramics shops

Plastic food shops abound here. Mind you, these plastic food don't come cheap! A small keychain of a sushi can cost more than 700yen. For us, we just enjoyed browsing around and marvelling at how realistic and delicious all those food looked.

Uniforms, anyone?

Oden pot? We would've gotten one if not for the high price. :D

Looking at some Jyu boxes in a lacquerware shop. We plan to buy a couple before we head home.

It was easy to pass time in Kappabashi. A few hours went by and Raimie didn't even complain. With plenty of plastic food shops for him to enter, and a few wholesalers selling food items, he had as much as we did. We even got excited going in to one of the wholesaler selling food items and Zaini even contemplated buying a jar of umeboshi because they were so cheap there.

For this visit, we didn't buy anything yet as we will be moving around quite a lot. We will return to Kappabashi again soon and do some serious damage on our wallets soon.