Dog eat dog world

Morton's of Chicago @ The Oriental

2007-08-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Our spread at Morton's...

As a meat lover who absolutely loves her steaks, this is one place that i have always wanted to try. And I finally got to last night. Ck was in town for the weekend and we decided we will have something really special. Special meaning this is by far the most expensive dinner I have ever eaten in my life (!) with the steak alone costing a whopping $86 +++ (note that price doesn't come with any sides) and you got to experience real impeccable service.

We were greeted warmly when we walked in to the restaurant located at the 4th floor of the oriental hotel and I was surprised by the bustling atmosphere inside the restaurant. For the kind of moolah this restaurant charges, i thought the ambience would be more sedate and formal. Nevertheless, we were ushered to our seats and were promptly given the drinks list.

Dinner commenced with their signature onion loaf seen above. Look at the massive size, i swear it's like a bowling ball. Anyway the loaf went really well with the butter with its subtle onion aroma and light crust. I was tempted to have more but stopped myself from becoming too stuffed as the servings at Morton's were well known to be huge.

CK ordered a martini to start off while I went with a very nice Chardonnay. Meanwhile, Tina, our server came by with the well known 5 minute talk through on Morton's offerings. We were shown a 'collection' of steaks, ALL raw, and taken through the different cuts.. from its famous double porterhouse cut to the bone in ribeye to the double cut filet mignon, etc. We were also introduced to the non-steak items such as yellowfin tuna, salmon and maine lobster.

Eventually we settled on the following items:
1) A bone in ribeye steak, done medium rare
2) A double cut filet mignon, done medium rare
3) Sauteed wild mushrooms
4) Fresh brocolli with hollandaise sauce
5) Jumbo crab cake as appetizer
6) Molten chocolate cake for dessert
7) Additional 2 glasses of reds to go with the meat

This is our appetizer which was pretty good. Real fresh crab meat and roe were used to make this. The flavours were brought out beuatifullly with some added lemon zest on the side. So much so that CK craved for a taste of some fresh oysters. The two would have complemented each other very well.

Moving on, our steaks arrived and boy was it massive! Above is the double cut filet mignon which was excellent. It was like tataki in steak form. It was succulent, tender, aromatic, flavourful..... perfect. It was very very good. I told CK that perhaps if the steaks were charred it would have been even better and CK thought so too. So when one of the managers walked by to check on us, we casually mentioned the steaks were good but could have even be better if it were charred.

The excellent service meant that our steaks were promptly taken away from us and sent back to the grill to be charred. It was like done immediately so we didn't have to wait long at all. In fact when the steak returned perfectly charred, with no effect on my doneness of the meat, I was duly impressed with the speed and quality of the remarkable service and understanding of their product.

While the charred quality worked wonders for my filet mignon, it kinda brought down CK's ribeye slightly as for his steak, it seemed to make the steak much more chewy with the strong charred taste being a tad too overpowering. But not to say the least, both were still excellent in their own right.

To be continued...

A very nice place for a chit chat

2007-07-17T10:26:00.001-07:00

Brussel Sprouts at Robertson Quay. I was here last Saturday night with my girlfriend F for some girly chit chat and drinks. You might have seen its owner, the very blonde Emmanuel Stroobant, on TV before. Some show called Chef in Black or something.

Anyway, this guy's Belgium so Brussel Sprouts is kinda like a belgium restaurant/bar with an emphasis on beer and posh finger food. Over 50 kinds of beer are available here and some are really fancy with exotic flavours and all.

To make things easy for myself, I went straight for beer on tap. Pictured here is the Leffe Blonde, which is what I ordered. Nice to drink but for some reason i was yearning for an Erdinger instead. F ordered something recommended by the waitress, which was a nice crisp beer with a zesty aftertaste, the name I cant pronounce very well.

I mentioned posh finger food. Well the highlight of the menu is actually the norwegian mussels cooked in a variety of styles. I stared at the some (8-10?) styles of cooking and eventually settled for the no-brainer, the house special. The house special listed onions, white wine, butter, cracked black pepper, parsley etc ... all of which very much agreed with me.

The mussels arrived with the promised free flow hot chips with aioli sauce and we quickly tucked in. It was very very tasty. The mussels were juicy and the sauce light and aromatic. The chips came piping hot and went terrific with the beer. It was so good that I downed my Leffe almost too quikly and ordered another Stella Artois to go with the rest of the chips. Hahah.

Anyway I must say I really enjoyed sitting outside, chit chatting over a beer here. This place makes for some good coversation. I'll be back real soon.

Bangkok was wonderful

2007-07-11T09:56:00.002-07:00

I joined CK in BKK for a really crazy weekend filled with loads food and shopping - and came back smiling from ear to ear!

First up, I touched down, met up with V (one of my friends who also happened to be in BKK) and headed straight to meet up with CK. Thereafter, we went to Chinatown for the standard seafood dinner which was as expected, v good. V then left to return to his hotel while me and CK hung around Chinatown a bit more to have coffee. We came across this Kaya roti man just across the street and ordered a soft bun. It was very good and seemed different from the accustomed Ya Kun taste (if you know what I mean). What's interesting is that this guy uses his tongs to created a constant clatter while toasting bread.

We took the non breakfast option when we booked our hotel as it would set us back by 300 bht person, which is a pretty high price when you figure its mostly bread and cereal. I think we would rather enjoy breakfast at one of the lovely stalls at Chatuchak on saturday morning. So this was what we ended up having.

Nice and full of innards (my favourite) but a tad too sweet. Hmmm, I told Ck we should go back to that nice 'boat noodle' stall I visited on my last trip in March. But as you know in Chatuchak, it is virtually impossible to look for a particular stall. It's like 'needle in the ocean'. But we were very lucky. We managed to find it. And not just that, it had expanded to the unit next door and this new section boasted cute chandeliers and fancy tables. But the point is that CK tried the noodles here and agreed taste-wise it was one of the best.

From Chatuchak, we rushed back to enjoy a 2.5 hour spa treatment near our hotel. The treatment consisted of an organic body scrub and aromatherapy massage. It rained heavily on our way back to the hotel and was so bad we had to hail a cab to reach the spa. The annoying thing was that it was just a turn away from our hotel!

(Erm in case you are wondering why i look so 'dry' in this picture, this picture was taken in the morning when we went to book our treatments)

This is the front door to our spa. It's quite cool isn't it? The door really is round and when you open it, it comes out full circle. Abit on the spa experience, it's decently priced at 1750 bht for a 2.5 hour treatment. But how good your treatment is depends on your masseuse. I got a much better one as compared to CK. He was so pissed with his masseuse he really didn't want to give her a token tip, but oh well, he relented in the end.

Anyway for dinner tonight, we had planned to enjoy something really special. READ: Expensive. So we settled on French food since I never really had real french food before. The restaurant we went to is called Philippe Restaurant, located on Sukhumvit soi 39.

Strongly recommended by the dark suited Thai restaurant manager, we started with (1) an appetizer of duck foie gras stuffed in home-made pasta, accompanied by with a delightful truffle reduction; and (2) a classic lobster bisque.

Duck foie gras pasta

I will go on and describe the duck liver pasta appetizer. Ok here goes... this is like one of my most memorable pasta dishes I have ever eaten. Truly a perfect matrimony of taste, texture, sensation and smell. The smoothest, creamiest duck liver lovingly encased in freshly made pasta, shaped like a rectangle. Take a bite and the foie gras melts on the tongue, at the same time interacting with the wonderful truffle flavours from the sauce. The pasta itself was very fresh, cooked al dente. Providing an excellent textural balance to the creaminess of the duck liver. I am in heaven.

Lobster bisque

Above is the lobster bisque. I feel it exemplifies the essence of French cooking: the complexity of simplicity. It's like how difficult it is to make a good cup of coffee, or to fry a perfect plate of char kway teow. It's simple, but so hard to achieve excellence. Well, the lobster bisque was just that. This one really impressed me. It was creamy without coming across as cheap. It has the right amount of lobster flavours without any of the 'fishyness'. The taste was subtle yet flavourful. Superb.

Next came our mains. CK ordered a roasted veal dish with foie gras sauce (done medium rare) while I had the grilled tenderloin with some kind of black pepper and cafe de paris butter sauce (medium rare too).

Roasted veal

This was the veal which was good but still not as good as my tenderloin. For me, I always refrain from ordering veal as I feel it lacks a strong beefy taste. The veal was rightly done and the foie gras sauce was very very nice but overall my main still outshone the veal.

Grilled tenderloin. Yum.

Ok now for my main. I give it 10/10 for the doneness of the meat. It was spot on. I loveee my beef done this way. All pinky raw in the centre with the outside scorched perfectly for the right amount of smokey grilled taste. The only bad thing I can think of is that this is prolly Aussie beef. If it had been US or Japanese beef for that matter, a stronger beefy fatty taste would have lifted the dish up even more. But still, all in all, I totally enjoyed this. Also, an added bonus was that the accompanying asparagus and grilled tomato were extremely fresh.

While i have no basis for comparison, this being my 'first' visit to a french restaurant, Philippe exceeded my expectations at all levels. The duck liver pasta was a real star.

Just a bit on info on where I put up at this time. I stayed at Le Fenix Sukhumvit at Soi 11. A new boutique hotel that is groovy in design but poor in finishing ( looks like a rushed job when you look closely). What stood out was the location of this hotel. Soi 11 is home to Bed Supperclub and Q bar, 2 of Bangkok's hottest nightspots. This time round, I had no problem with cab drivers not knowing where my hotel is. All I have to do is tell them to head to Q bar and my hotel is right opposite. Tried and tested, every taxi or tuk tuk for that matter, KNOWS where is Q bar.

Here are some photos of the hotel.

Chiang Mai Feb'07

2007-07-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

This is a somewhat backdated post but I felt it was quite necessary to talk about this really fabulous burger joint I happened to eat at while in Chiang Mai.

I was in Chiang Mai for a couple of days earlier this February with CK and his parents and it was a really nice, laid back trip. I enjoyed myself immensely. Other than the nice weather (22 deg in the day, 15-17 deg at night), a very memorable Elephant trek cum day trip and the beautiful handicraft available at the famous Night Bazaar, there were some pretty good stuff I ate too.

Yummy Mike's Hamburger

Most notably, was Mike's Hamburger, a stand that is located on the corner of Chaiyapoom Road and Chang Moi Road along the east side of the moat. We ordered a bacon cheeseburger and it was really what a hamburger should look like: Massive chow that is sinful down to every bite. Every burger comes with one gigantic onion ring, another item they claim to be famous for. It was really good, in fact one of the best burgers I've ever tasted. There are pork burgers to be found too.

A very famous restaurant in Chiang Mai which most, if not all, locals here are familiar with is Huen Phen. A northern thai restaurant, this place is famous for the local noodle dish of Khao Soi. Basically curry noodles with half the noodles in gravy, topped with the fried version of the same noodles. The Khao Soi here has a fragrant curry taste that needed no additional flavouring (a bad habit of mine is to always add-on to flavouring) so that speaks volumes.

Spot the 'fish curry'...it's on the LHS plate with the pandan leaf hidden behind the Khao Soi

One thing I must mention is that the Northen Thai taste was nothing like the sweet, sour, spicy taste we expect of Thai food. To be honest, it always veered on strong, pungent and at times just plain weird. Just to give you an example, we ordered a dish of 'fish curry' from Huen Phen but instead of fish arriving steaming hot in a bowl of gravy, the fish was actually pan fried and covered in a dry curry paste!! But if there was one thing I like about Northen Thai food, it is the fact that sticky rice is the rice of choice. I agree sticky rice went better with local dishes as it brought out the flavour well. Nice to eat on its own too.

Well back to something more familiar to us, I sampled a very delicious Orh Luak and Carrot Cake at one of the day markets. The Orh Luak was nicer than the carrot cake and to my surprise, many people in Chiang Mai spoke Teochew!

As for the market, Chiang Mai indeed has some very fascinating markets that could easily rival Fremantle market or Queen Victoria Market. So if you are looking for a 2-3 day trip with a laid back itinerary, do visit Chiang Mai. I like the overall vibe. It's really very very relaxing.

Big Day Out

2007-06-27T02:15:00.000-07:00

Grover had a fabulous day chilling out at East Coast today with his new found friend Mocha.

He even carried his own bag! Kekeke...

Well, actually the main event of the day was to bring Mocha for her jab at the vet. Afterwhich, to cut the long story short, 3 of us - me, F and V - and the doggies went to East Coast Park for a lovely afternoon stroll. We landed an 'unplanned' major makan session.

I am very proud to say I stay in the East. It is somewhere I believe all great hawker food come from. East Coast Lagoon Hawker Centre is definitely one of my top favourites for quality hawker fare (the other being Bedok blk 85 Hawker Centre). What's more, the ambience here is fantastic whether you come here for a late weekend afternoon tunch or for a midnight supper rampage - it's all good. Always good.

We lurrveee Cheok Kee Duck Rice here. Tender braised duck on top perfectly cooked grains coated in dark soy, drenched in thick flavourful gravy. Highly recommended to be enjoyed with a side order of our favourite duck liver.

The popiah here is always delicious too. I was ordering popiah a few stalls down from the very famous Lagoon Leng Kee Beef Kway Teow when I saw it had no queue! Immediately I jumped at the chance to sample its goods. Many a time I came here for supper I had given up coz the queue was simply way too ridiculous. Anyway, I ordered the default Mixed beef Kway teow soup and this shit is really good! I mean, damn bloody nice loh... I have since gotten recurring cravings for the ultra tender beef, light soupy taste and it's QQ kway teow texture...

And if you are in the mood for some satay, make a beeline for Haron Satay (stall 55). It's my stall of choice. My other 2 friends haven't had satay from this stall before so I ordered 15 sticks for us. And they can't get over the fact that this is way tastier and juicier than most satay. The mutton here is especially excellent.

We didn't have this coz the stall wasn't opened yet but never miss the satay bee hoon. There is only one stall and loads people queue up for this. It's worth the wait. If you have Malaysian friends, do bring them here to try this. This is one dish that is totally, 100% unique to Singapore.

Are you hungry yet?

Wagyu Beef Sashimi @ Kazu

2007-06-27T02:02:00.000-07:00

Me and CK were back at Kazu again recently. This time we were there coz CK had promised to treat his aunt on her birthday at Kazu.

I don't wish to bore by going into detail what we had stick-by-stick. But here's a lovely picture of the lovely cold appetizer we ordered. My only complain was that these came out slightly too frozen, such that when the beef touched the tongue, there was a delayed action in the 'melting fat' sensation! Other than that, it was as good as it looks, with the luscious fat slithering over my tastebuds as I popped one of these babies into my mouth and unleased the canivore in me.

Marutama Ramen

2007-06-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

There is a ramen craze happening in Singapore now as evidenced by the number of new ramen joints sprouting all over the island. The one with the longest queues and most media hype happens to be Marutama Ramen.

I tried it the other day with 2 of my friends and was torn between 2 choices. The first one was the basic option of Marutama Ramen with an extra order of egg and the other was for the Aka Ramen, its broth boiled from 7 different kind of nuts. It has a pale orangey hue and comes with small chicken balls floating in the soup. There was also generous sprinkling of coriander, my favourite garnish. Lastly, it is served with a wedge of lemon.

I thought the ramen was ok only. The broth was not as nutty as I would expect. Also, I thought the lemon was a bad idea as the zangy kick it gave to the broth did not do much for its taste. The noodles also went soggy quite quickly and soon halfway into the bowl, I was reminded of Fei Fei Wanton mee (not one of my favourite things). I heaped on a whole load of garlic chips which helped lift the dish up immensely. Nevertheless at $15, I opt to finish every drop.

I got a taste of my friend's Marutama Ramen and thought the broth to be far tastier than mine. I may come back for this just to give it a second chance. Other than that, I thought the noodle at Miharu was by far springier and tastier.

Adventures in Bangkok

2007-06-11T02:05:00.001-07:00

This trip happened amid the bomb scares in Bangkok and I am thankful my family came back safe and sound.
As usual, I went to Thailand with 3 things in mind:

1) Eat.
2) Massage.
3) Stock up on underwear

We touched down in the evening at the new airport and took a cab into Sukhumvit where our hotel was located. As if it was a premonition of our luck with BKK cabbies to come, our first taxi ride in BKK was a disaster. Our cab driver actually did not know his way to Sukhumvit! Can you believe we took over an hour to get to our hotel? And the whole time, the fella was on the phone with some operator trying to give him directions!

After an hour on the road, we FINALLY checked in and headed to Chinatown for dinner. Those who have been to BKK would know that there were 2 main restaurants in BKK, one occupying either side of the road recognisable by their T-shirt colour. One's red and the other's green. This time we went to the green one.

Not bad at all. Fresh and delicious, the oyster omelette was superb, as was a dish of giant prawns in milky broth I ordered. It was really cheap too. Just over a thousand baht per person!

Boat Noodle Stall. Check out the pork fat crisps at the side!

The next day we went to Chatuchak market and as expected, it was a feast for not just the senses, but the taste buds as well! I must point out that while I am generally impressed, or even in love, with thai styled pork or beef noodles, this one I tried at Chatuchak - curiously named "Boat Noodles" - was really fab! There was also a wonderful option of ordering a small bowl of those yummy pork fat crisps as a snack or to embellish the noodles further.

While the perils of staying at a relatively "unknown" hotel was frustration with cabs, the good part was that Sukhumvit was home to a number of very authentic Japanese restaurants. (Did you know that Thailand has the biggest number of overseas Japanese?)
We ate at a very nice jappy place called Niigata Restaurant at the road outside our hotel.

And this is my sister's lovely Hamburger steak. Yummy.

Now if you plan to have a special meal in BKK. Please try to catch a meal at Zanotti Restaurant in Silom. Here, I had one of the best pizzas and bruschetta. The pizza was really thin and flavourful. The aroma of the cheese tempting you to quickly savour it. The bruschetta was also exceptional. Topped with very fresh tomatoes, the overall taste was deliciously light and simple. For dessert, try the tiramisu, which was above average with its creamy yet fluffy texture.

Come eat me!

Bruschettas. Fresh and sweet!

I really think Zanotti is a must-visit in BKK. If not for the food, the lovely romantic ambience and cute yellow mustard walls will make your day too.

Grover Eats Gourmet (at times) too

2007-03-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

The way I like to treat myself to my favourite dishes after a dreadful week at work, I spared no expense for my dog's 3rd birthday. Surely a dog will appreciate some gourmet food and not object to this nice, unexpected change from his usual diet of dry kibbles.

So I went out and got him a very delicious sounding "Venison Holiday Stew". Grover had a bad case of schnauzer bumps last time and generally he has pretty sensitive skin, so this limits the kind of things we can feed him with. Venison is one source of protein he can eat and even then, I wasn't quite expecting the huge chunks of venison swimming in the thick gravy.

The stew was polished off within seconds. And Grover looked at me with the most grateful expression ever.

Hmmm, I believe we have yet again grown closer through our common love for good food.

Canele. For the umpteenth time.

2007-03-26T23:37:00.000-07:00

For the uninitiated, Canele is the Patisserie/Chocolatier by Les Amis Group. There used to be only one branch at Robertson Walk (very out of the way!) but thankfully now, we can now find their heavenly cakes in the basement of Paragon (opposite Starbucks) and at Esprit Cafe in Centrepoint.

I usually go to Canele with my gym and foodie Khaki, Dennis (also known as my "Son"). Ironically, we usually have Canele after gym. Hahah.. well, I remember the first time we went to Canele. It was after gym on a Sunday and we had gone in search of the one and only branch at Robertson Walk. Being not too familiar with the area (abit of confusion between Robertson Quay & Robertson Walk), we actually walked in circles under the hot, sweltering sun for a good 30-40 minutes..
As fate has it, were just about to give up when we chanced upon it.

Damn. It was good! That first bite of Le Royale was mindblowing. We've never looked back since. I've since been to Canele for like umpteenth times and tried almost everything on offer. For a first visit, you can opt to try these 3 favourites of mine:

1) Le Royale (pictured on far left)
2) Matcha (not pictured)
3) Black Forest 2007 (second in picture)

One notable mention is recently I gave their hot food a go and tried one of their savoury chicken crepes. It was delicious! So if you haven't tried Canele yet, please do go.. you won't regret it.

Kazu Sumiyaki. My favourite.

2007-03-21T01:46:00.000-07:00

Kazu comes up with lovely presentations...

Went back for the 5th time and yes, Kazu RocCCCcKS!

This time, we went with JF, a fren of CK's, who unfortunately or rather, fortunately left it to us to decide on the choice of dinner venue. So we made a pronto reservation at Kazu.

One thing that is special about Kazu is that it's menu is extensively stocked with both regular and seasonal items. My heart always skips a beat as I prowl the menu for nice seasonal items that catch my eye (and tastebuds)

Ok here's what we ordered that day..

Appetizers:
1) Mountain Vegetable Tempura. A seasonal item on the menu, fresh as it was there was a surprising bitter aftertaste which made it kinda unpleasant.
2) Simmered Wagyu Beef in Red Wine Sauce. Definitely one of our favourite dishes.

"Star" performers for Yakitori that night among the many other sticks we ordered:
1) Mini Hamburger
2) Shishamo
3) Chicken Knee Cartilage
4) Marbled pork with apple
5) Minced chicken stuffed in lotus root
6) Pork with white leek
7) Beef with cheese
8) Quail eggs wrapped with pork belly (I didn't have this but both CK and JF tot it was excellent)
9) Pork belly with enoki mushroom
10) Foie Gras
Plus many many more.... Despite Kazu's extensive menu, we had the waitress tell us (for the second time) that we literally finished eveything off the menu!

Oh yes, and to end off the meal before dessert, we usually get a carbo "filler" which is always the Garlic Fried Rice with Miso soup. The one that day was absolutely delicious. The rice was almost 'al-dente'... fragrant with a strong charred garlicky taste. The rice grains were also expertly prepared so they did not stick together. I was like wow!

CK was tempted to order the grilled squid at the end but resisted. Someone else's order did look very good on the grill! But we'll definitely be back again so no worries.

Now time for the dessert. We ordered 3 items:
1) A Sekaiichi apple.
2) BBQ (!) Tiramisu
3) Snow drop with black sesame ice cream

I believe this is the first time Kazu's desserts fell really short of expectations. First off, the apple which was highly recommended by me was neither crunchy or sweet. Dammit! I used to promote these apples during one of my school hol jobs and have tasted practically all the Japanese varieties sold in Singapore. My conclusion was that Sekaiichi was the best. It was suppose to be super crunchy and super sweet but today here, it was neither. We really regretted not taking the Musk Melon.

On to the BBQ tiramisu. This was good with a surprising bit of mango sorbet in the middle. Quite a nice twist but alas, did not send me over the moon.

Snow drop came beautifully decorated with a golden weave of sugar placed on top of it. This version was nice but ithe version with the nice pumpkin mousse was way way better.

All in all, we had a wonderful time despite some misses in the desserts department this time. And I am already looking forward to my next visit.

New foodie adventures. A brief summary

2007-03-21T01:01:00.000-07:00

Ok this is some kinda catchup summary of what I ate over the past few months. Overall I must say it's been good :)

New places discovered, noted, tested and left the biggest impressions:
1. Kaisan Japanese Cuisine @ Raffles Hotel
2. Zanotti Fine Italian Restaurant, Silom, Bangkok
3. Mike's Hamburger, Chiangmai, Thailand
4. Huen Phen, Chiangmai, Thailand
5. Buko Nero
6. Ayam Penyet Ria, Lucky Plaza
7. Aburiya

Notable stuff eaten:
1. Pierre Herme Macarons
2. Steak sandwiches from Morton's Martini Bar
3. Krispy Kreme Donuts
4. Maisen Tonkatsu Sandwiches
5. Pringles from Japan - Sea salt and pepper flavor
6. Beef (not Pork) Ribs from Brewerkz

Updates coming soon!

Who is Pierre Herme?

2007-03-19T21:44:00.001-07:00

To anyone who actually read this dusty blog of mine, first off, apologies for not me not bothering to update.
In fact, I actually ate quite a bit of nice things over the past few months. I went to Thailand twice (to Chiangmai and then to Bangkok), discovered some new places and went back to some of my favourite ol' ones.

And now, for this far in-between post, I have decided to start with something pretty special. Recently, I got my hands on something I have always wanted to eat since I first read about them: Pierre Herme Macarons.

So who is Pierre Herme? Apparently according to Jeffery Steingarten, author of The Man who ate everything, Pierre Herme is widely regarded as one of the greatest French pastry chefs of all time. What he is very famous for are his macarons.

A friend of mine went to Tokyo recently and I was very fortunate enough to have her bring me back a box of the above. (isn't it the prettiest packaging?) Well, the first macoron I ate from the box was the chocolate flavour which alas wasn't as mind blowing as I had expected. However, when I popped the rose-flavoured macaron into my mouth, I realised what the fuss was all about. The macorons seemed to be infused with a wonderful, hypnotic scent of rose perfume. It was unique and quite unlike even the rose macarons from Canele. It was definitely way better. Now I see why some call them the best cookies on earth. Suffice to say it did not hit me in that manner, I may prolly change my mind if I get to eat them fresh at his patissier or if I get to savour some of the famous foie gras flavoured ones.

Kyoho Grapes and Ultra juicy Momo Peach from Japan

2006-11-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

These are the ultra premium grapes and peaches I lugged back all the way from Japan.

Kyoho grapes, considered to be the most expensive in the world, cost a whopping $60 to 80 (i think) in Isetan and that was why I had to buy a box back no matter what. They had very thick skin which in my opinion should be peeled away (easily) to fully enjoy the jello-like texture and wine like taste of these delicious morsels.

I had also bought a box of 5 momos for 1000yen and shucks, is it truly heavenly or what? Sweet and literally dripping with juice, I thought at a mere 200yen each, it was such a steal. If I could I would have lugged home even more.

Shucks, I want one now.

Great Chee Cheong Fan in Gopeng (15 min from Ipoh)

2006-11-30T07:56:00.000-08:00

This is definitely not what Chee Cheong Fan looks like to a Singaporean.

Here we are today in Gopeng basking under the mid-day sun, waiting for an illusive chee cheong fan man to arrive. Plastic tables have been set up where the stall functions, but it's all empty except for a steamer. As the clock ticked, more and more people congregated at the area. Where the hell is he?

Finally, we see this super lao pok white car come by, its back seat loaded with all kinds of fried yong tau foo. He backed into the lot in front of the plastic tables and proceeded to off load whole trays of food onto the table. Turned out that the steamer contained the actual chee cheong fan and here in Gopeng, Yong Tau Foo was part of the deal.

Everyone scrambled to the food grabbing whatever looks good. I also realised that the Chee Cheong Fan here came with a light curry gravy similar to that of Lontong.

So was it good? Yes, especially the soft texture of the chee cheong fan. It sent CK raving and raving. But I found the Yong Tau Foo very oily actually but other than that the taste was fine.

More importantly though, this place also had the 'fun' element. You have fun choosing what to go with your cheong fan and of course, the waiting thrown in also created a nice buzz in your stomach as it anticipates the arrival of the goods. Yumm.

Fong San Dim Sum in Ipoh

2006-11-28T07:29:00.000-08:00

This is the first time that I ever woke up at 6am for food. More specifically, for dim sum.

The place in question is a very famous restaurant in Ipoh called Fong San. It's almost an institution. If you are from Ipoh, chances are you would have grown up eating from this place. And what makes it even more interesting is that everyone from Ipoh knows that you gotta wake up in the wee hours of the morning if you are gonna be successful in snagging a seat.

It's the DeepaRaya holidays and we've taken a 2 day trip from KL down to Ipoh for what I would call a mini food fest. The last time I was in Ipoh I ate so much I fell so sick afterwards, I even sent CK on a panic attack!

Anyway back to Fong San, when we got there the place was already brimming! Amazing! But being pretty early, we got a seat pretty fast too. We were here with CK's colleagues - James and Janice - and were later joined by Janice's parents.

If you happen to be in Ipoh, I would say it was a gourmet experience worth waking up for.

Dim Sum was pushed in carts but the place was so friggin crowded that these pushcarts were held in standstill as people crowded around them instead trying to get their hands on the food. We got our dim sum... ranging from Polo Bun, carrot cake, har kow, siew mai, egg tart, chee cheong fan, spare ribs, etc.

The Polo Bun and Egg tart scored points while carrot cake (fried with bean sprouts.. eeks!) got the thumbs down. The other stuff were great too. I had a major craving for a sweet filling bao and here's wat I got, a tao sar bao, albeit in a rather strange shape.

If you are in Ipoh, do not give Fong San a miss. It's got a great atmosphere that is rare in dim sum restaurants nowadays. I always felt that dim sum should have a 'fun' element and yup, Fong San's got that.

Day 1 - Tokyo (Shinjuku)

2006-11-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

We are off to Tokyo today and we reached the airport before 4am to check in for our 6am Northwest flight. Checking in was a little tricky as our flight was a connecting flight to another flight bound for the US. This meant heavy security measures were in place. In fact, both me and Ck got interviewed individually by a police officer.

That aside, we were well soon on our way to Narita, scheduled to land at 2pm. The plane ride was ok, but definitely not as luxurious as the likes of SQ or Cathay. At $428 (before tax) you really can't ask for much,

Well before we knew it, we had landed in Tokyo! This marked the beginning of our 16 day journey after months and months of research and planning. We are finally here!

After we cleared immigration and picked up our luggage, we headed straight to the limited express that took us into the city. Crowded with people, what struck me was that the train travelled at a very fast speed even though it was the more lao pok kind.

We transferred to the subway and soon, we are standing in front of the very cool looking Andon Ryokan. We had chosen Andon Ryokan for its sleek design and hip quotient.

Andon Ryokan..

Outside my room..

I had requested for a high floor at Andon Ryokan and so we stayed on the 3rd floor. All the rooms were double rooms and beautifully designed. You sleep on very comfotable bedding laid out on tatami floors and there is a tv in every room.

We settled in for awhile and took off for Shinjuku for dinner and the first taste of Japan.

Arriving at Shinjuku station is abit of a surreal experience as there were just so many people! Of course the fact that it was a Saturday night made it even more busy. Shinjuku station is said to be the busiest train station in the world and is in itself a made up of a confusing maze of exits and underground shopping centres.

We walked around first, trying to get our orientation right. We headed to Takashimaya's depachika (food hall) but it was a bit of a disappointment as I was expecting a myriad of activity, surrounded by so many food choices that I could not possibly decide wat to eat. Unfortunately, nothing caught our eye.

Hunger was slowly kicking in and we had to make our choice fast. So we decided to give Japan's homegrown fast food chains a try. We ended up at Lotteria and ordered a hot masala burger set (some promo in line with the HOT summer season).Though the burger wasn't as sensational, the view of the joint was.

Me @ Lotteria

I found Shinjuku to be the sleazier, dirtier cousin of Shibuya. There are loads of nightclubs in the red light district that not only provides services for men, but for women as well. Pictures of male escorts are plastered all over the front of these nightclubs - no qualms about it.

The area called Kabukicho was filled with loads of shops, restaurants, drinking holes and convenience stores. It was here that we found our first REAL meal. And it was a very good one at that.

Lights, camera and action at Kabukicho

It was a ramen shop somewhere in Kabukicho. Hot, busy and smelling oh-s0-great, we walked in, only to be faced with a huge vending machine. All in Japanese. How do we choose our order when we can't even read?

Hmmm... we had no one to turn to and everything was smelling so great so we just dropped some money into the machine and randomly made our choice. We got our ticket and handed it to one of the chefs behind the counter. What's more, there was only one available seat. We had to take turns eating the ramen in the end!

Thankfully, whatever we seem to have ordered was what everyone seemed to be having. And boy, was the portion huge. (The bowl was so so huge that both me and CK (known eaters) could hardly finish it.) A piping hot deep bowl of ramen filled with a tonne of smooth, slurpy noodles, topped with thick slices of fatty chashu with a1cm layer of oil floating on top. I still think this was my favourite ramen i ate in the whole trip.

What a great way to start.

The delicious ramen store...

Day 2 - Harajuku + Shibuya + Omotesando + Aoyama

2006-11-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

Alot of ground to conquer today, we are going to cover Tokyo's hippest and trendiest (not to mention hugeee) area that stretches from Aoyama to Omotesando to Harajuku and finally, Shibuya.

We took the train to Omotesando, where high end boutiques such as Prada, LV and Gucci are found. But of course, we'll have to start off with a nice brunch to start the day right.

Lunch was planned at Maisen Tonkatsu, famous for it's breaded pork cutlet with rice dishes. Converted from an old bathhouse, the premises of Maisen is breathtaking.

A bit of info on why the pork cutlet at Maisen is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Firstly, it's not just any pork. These are the specially reared "Black Pork". Known as Kurobata Pork in Japanese, this kind of pork is naturally more juicy, tastier with a great bite to boot. World-famous chef Nobu Matsushita named Maisen as one of his favourite restaurants in the world!

There's wide variety to be found on the menu but I highly recommend the Kurobata Pork Tonkatsu Set as well as the Katsu-don Set pictured here:

When the food arrived, me and CK were so thrilled at it's presentation, but our first bite was even better. Anyway after this first visit, we loved it so much we vowed to return on our second last day in Japan, which we did!

And for those who love sandwiches, I am pleased to say that Maisen sells Tonkatsu sandwiches just outside its premises for those on the go (we had these on our flight home to Singapore actually)

Moving on, we walked the impossibly hip boutiques at Aoyama and Omotesando. A few boutiques really stood out including the stunning Prada building (below), the ultra advant garde Commes Des Garcons boutique and the BAPE store with revolving shoe conveyor belt centrepiece (think conveyor belt sushi).

The long stretch of Omotesando takes you alongside the most famous bouqtiues in the world and links up with the trashy, loudness of Harajuku. When walking along this street, do make sure you make a stop at Kiddy Land for your deserved overdose of cuteness. Surreal, weird and at times too cute, this 4 or 5 storey shop is loaded with Hello Kittys and other oddly shaped characters with a strange combination of weird meets cute.

Takeshita Street..

At Harajuku, we went straight to the famous Takeshita Street for our next overdose of weirdness. But this time, it's street culture weird. There were loads of shops that run the gamut of pet shops selling matching doggy outfits with doggy houses to Cosplay boutiques with French maid and S&M themes. If you're hungry, you can try one of the many crepe stands that line the place. We had a summer berry custard crepe which was very nice.

The other end of Takeshita leads to Harajuku Station where it's just minutes away from Meiji-Jingu, the largest and most important Shinto shrine in Tokyo. A must visit for its beautiful premises,marvel in the contrast of this unexpected oasis with the sheer madness of what lies just outside it. The serenity of tall trees and gravel road that leads into the very beautiful premises indescribable.

Meiji-Jingu Shrine...

Oh, and while you are there, do not miss the Cosplay kids on Sunday. Take a look at this and you know why you won't wanna miss it. From french maids to gothic punks to couples that looked like they just stepped out from the Victorian age, this is a spectacle to behold.

After the long trek, yup, it's time to eat again. Haha. Yayy. Our early dinner was at Kyushu Jangara Ramen, another very very famous place. They serve Tonkotsu Ramen which soup of the kyushu style, made from pork bones boiled to a milky broth. This one tastes great but it is a tad too salty for me. The first tonkotsu flavour one we ordered was much tastier than the miso base one. And like all ramen in Japan, this one too had a thick layer of pork fat floating on top, which we walloped. Yum.

However, I did prefer the ramen one we had in Shinjuku yesterday. Then again though, those who know me will know that I am addicted to the Tonkotsu Flavour by Nissin's Chu Qian Yi Ding, a flavour sold in Australia and Hong Kong but unfortunately is not sold in Singapore.

It was getting dark and the time was perfect for our next pit stop - Shibuya. Shibuya made my heart race with the crazy mass of people thronging the place. Loads of Ah Lians (those tanned girls with bleached hair and pale lipstick) infiltrated every corner and this place was teeming with dozens of fashion boutiques! Whoo hooo!

Shibuya spreads over a relatively large area so time is of essence is you really want to cover as much as possible. But if you are time strapped, it is absolutely essential to pay a visit to these few places.

1) Hachiko Statue.
Quite possibly the world's most loyal dog, Hachiko waited for his master's return for 10 years at the same spot where his statue is now erected. The story goes that his master had died at work and failed to return to their usual meeting place but the faithful dog kept at it till the day he died. Hachiko was the first dog in Japan to have his obituary run in the papers!

2) Shibuya Crossing
The epitome of the fast paced nature of Tokyo life, find yourself lost amongst the crowd at the world's busiest street crossing.

3) Shibuya 109 Shopping Mall
In a nutshell, this is Ah Lian central. Filled with shops selling the latest Ah Lian gear, I believe there are many bargains to be found at this place. But the shop that made me go absolutely crazy was this lingerie shop called Peach John. Check out their endless selction of the prettiest underwear you can find that range from tacky to practical, it's a girl's dream come true.

Example of Ah lian:

4) Dogenzaka
A long street that cuts diagonally across, this area is a sort of gateway to the other things Shibuya offers. Walk along it and you will find the most happening discos (like womb) nearby and a whole slew of Love Hotels as well as many quaint pubs, ramen shops and boutiques etc.

Day 3 - Asakusa + Kappabashi St + Ueno + Akhihabara + Kanda Yabu Soba

2006-11-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

Asakusa, the bustling 'old town' of Tokyo is where we are headed off early to today. Home to the venerable Senso-ji temple, we planned to have the street snacks along Nakimise Street leading up to Senso-ji as breakfast.

Nakamise Street...

Super touristy but colorful, Nakimise street is lined with shops selling knick knacks, traditional Japanese sweets, souvenirs and snacks. We ended up with some Japanese Mua Chee thing (which wasn't too nice), black sesame ice cream and Japanese pancakes. The entrance to Senso-ji is flanked by a large red lantern that is now synonymous with images of Asakusa, even Japan. We were greeted by a vibrant scene of tourists (loads of Korean, Taiwanese and Ang mohs) and Japanese alike trying to get a piece of the action.

With both Senso-ji and Meiji-Jingu being must-visits for any Tokyo visitor, I think both me and CK preferred the serene, peaceful feel of the latter as compared to the boisterousness of Senso-ji. However, Senso-ji is not without its quiet areas. There were nice, quiet areas found in pockets of the vast premises.

Time for lunch and our next stop Ueno. We walked enroute to Ueno through Asakusa's quaint little streets and Kappabashi Street. Kappabashi Street is known as the 'kitchen town' of Tokyo. In case you are wondering, yes that is where Japan's famous plastic food is manufactured. Not just that, you can even find soba knives costing 260,000 Yen!!!

A large suburban area characteristic of the working class in Tokyo, Ueno is well known for the Ueno Park (home to countless museums and galleries) and Ameyoko Market, a large pasar malam of sorts. The historical Ueno Station is also a major gateway to other parts of Japan.

Ueno Park. A gorgeous green oasis amidst a concrete jungle...

Lunch was at Izuei Unagi Honten, a very famous Unagi restaurant with a whopping 260 year old history, said to favoured by the Japanese royal families. We ordered two Unagi bento sets, one with tempura and the other with seasonal items. The unagi was tasty but I thought the ambience of the place was even better. Served by an elegant old lady donning a lovely kimono at a table overlooking the beautiful Ueno Park and surrounded by groups of Japanese enjoying a quiet lunch, I thought this was a quintessentially Japanese experience, comparable to say, slurping ramen at a busy ramen shop.

Brilliant Bentos at Izuei, a 260 yr old restaurant!

Full and satisfied, we took a leisurely walk around Ueno Park and headed towards Ameyoko Market. We were supposed to walk through Ameyoko towards Akhihabara but CK thought we were supposed to head straight to Akhihabara. It was so sweltering hot that when we backtracked, we took a train instead. Hah.

Anyway, Ameyoko Market is filled with fruit stalls and other stalls selling fresh produce as well as second hand shops selling watches and stuff like LV bags. There were some cut fruit sold at some stalls and we had a honeydew which was refreshingly sweet and juicy.

We finally finally made our way towards Akhihabara. It became more and more evident we were in the electronics and gadget land. Neon billboards showcasing colorful Anime characters covered buildings and electronic shop after electronic shop lined the streets. What's interesting was also the fact that there were quite a number of female pamphlet distributors dressed in cosplay.

We have stepped into the fantasy (and definitely fascinating and kinky) world of cosplay, anime and gadgets in Japan.

Akhihabara...

One of the most interesting shops we have come across in Japan is what we call a 'porn plaza'. Imagine a 7 storey one stop destination for all your sexual and fantasy needs. From porn videos to dildos to role-playing costumes to weird gadgets designed for (gasp!) office use, this surreal place is reality in Japan.

What's porn at every storey...

The weirdest thing about this place was that there were several polaroids displayed of ordinary girls paying(!) to pose in various costumes or states of undress. There was a sign that said if you pay for this service, you can buy the costume you posed in at a discount.

Night fell and it was dinner time. We had planned to have dinner at another famous shop - Kanda Yabu Soba. Reputed to be the most famous soba shop in Tokyo, this antique gem has been open since 1881! We had such a hard time locating this place (walking in circles around Awajicho and even asking one salariman offering to bring us there!) but the effort was well worth it coz the place was exceptionally beautiful in a old Japanese style, the cold soba the very best I've tasted and the superb service of a very friendly old lady (with porcelain white skin in a traditional kimono) insisting to explain what you are eating - even though it was clear we dun understand a word that she's saying!!!

Cold soba. The very best you can get.

Our orders were not hollered, electronically imprinted or memo-ed into the kitchen. It was sung into the kitchen. Yes, our orders were literally processed into a song by a lady and well, the kitchen must have heard. Haha.

Anyway, we started with a hot soba which was just so-so. Then we noticed everyone was eating the basic cold soba so we ordered it. This is definitely the recommended option over the hot soba as the texture of the cold soba was simply exceptional. We were also served some salty homemade miso paste to go with beer. Very interesting too.

All in all, we had a really fabulous dinner and I highly recommend Kanda Yabu Soba for the best soba you can get in Japan.

Day 4 - Tsukiji Fish Market + Tokyo Imperial Palace + Ginza

2006-11-01T01:08:00.000-08:00

We woke up at 5am today and we were at the train station by 5.20am.

Tsukiji Fish Market, the biggest fish market in the world, is where we are going. We've got to get there early in order to catch the world famous tuna auction. Indeed, anyone making a trip to Japan should make it a point to stop by here.

A crazy epicentre of fishy activity in the morning, emblazoned by tractors filled with the day's catch swishing past you from left, right and centre, it is inevitable that my pulse quickened dramatically in the midst of this one-of-a-kind experience. Tsukiji will be moving in a couple of years time and perhaps will be closed to the public from then on, so don't miss it ever.

Fresh tuna...

Frozen Tuna...

On top of that, Tsukiji outside the auction areas were filled with other treasures from the sea.

After all the action, we rewarded ourselves with one of Japan's top eating experience: We ate the freshest sushi in the world at Tsukiji at the crack of dawn. And we had that at Sushi Bun, apparently the world's oldest sushi bar. All 150 years of it.

The Uni (sea urchin), anago (eel with sushi bun's special sauce) and otoro (tuna belly) were to die for...

A fantastic start to the day, we headed back to Andon to clean up abit and met with a slice of daily life for the Japanese - morning rush hour. It was exactly like what you always see on TV, with train attendants giving a helping to squeeze people into the cabins. I managed to snap this.

Apparently the Japanese in the train were pretty amused by me photographing them. A few laughed and even waved!

Late morning came and we were headed to the Tokyo Imperial Palace and East Gardens. Stopping at the grand Tokyo station (itself an attraction), we stopped by the Marunouchi building and picked up a pizza from Jucheim. Jucheim is this super ATAS patissierie that sells an almost too beautiful to eat selection of mouthwatering cakes, pastries and warm meals.

The pizza we picked up was phenomenol. Unlike the hard, dry crust you would expect from a pizza from a bakery, the crust was light and airy, yet with enough bite and crunch to the thin crust. It's a pity I didn't take a picture of it.

Back to our destination, the imperial palace is a beautifully constructed royal home surrounded by moats with distinctive white walls. It is said to be the most expensive piece of real estate in the world.

Admission is free but visitors have to collect a token upon entering and return it to the palace guards upon exiting. We took a leisurely, albeit it was super hot, walk in the expansive grounds of the palace. The place is so freakin huge that it kinda killed the leisure part of it towards the end. Felt like a hike. I told myself to treat it as the pre-prep for our Fuji climb.

Hungry by now, we moved on to glitzy Ginza, home to Japan's most expensive and upmarket shopping. For the ultimate people-watching experience, do make a stop for some coffee and cake at Le Cafe Doutor located right smack in the middle of Ginza crossing. We ordered the 'thousand layer crepe cake' which I read somewhere I think was first made famous in New York.

Ginza is indeed one notch higher in terms of 'class level' with the endless stream of Japanese tai tais thronging the place.

Here are some iconic buildings we saw in Ginza. This is the Mikimoto building.

And this is a close up of the Hermes Building .

We visited the Apple Centre and Sony building in Ginza and soon it became dark. We had made plans to eat the famous Wagyu beef in this yakiniku place called Ginza Kahjohken. As we were a little early, I felt a bit apprehensive about entering the near empty restaurant. I was concerned that if we were to spend an obscene amount of moolah on something that didn't match up to our high expectations, my mood will be sorely affected.

We decided to go in anyway. No regrets at all.

Instead of sticking to the original plan of having the all-you-can-eat but lower grade wagyu beef, we opted for the higher quality wagyu instead. It proved to be the right decision as the first thick slab of meat that greeted us was shockingly aesthetic, superbly marbled with fat.

For the unitiated, Japanese wagyu is prized for it's marbling of fat within the meat. And this piece of meat that was presented to us was unlike anything I had seen before. Man!

Being a yakiniku place, there was a grill at every table where you'll cook your own meat. I grilled the meat lightly and put it into my mouth. The high concentration of fat caused the meat to literally melt to half its size in my mouth. Ooohhh...the pure sensation of the slithery, tasty fat oozing out of the meat to caress my taste buds is heavenly.

May I add that by 7pm, the place was packed to the brim. Filled with Salary men and the like. Apparently, this place was a really popular place after all. My worries were unfounded. Silly.

The chinese speaking waitress assigned to us also recommended the bibimbap and a nice tofu salad to go along with our meal. And of course we had beer wherever we went. I think we had Kirin Gold here? Ck and me agreed that was the nicest variety we had. In Singapore, you can find it sold in Meidi-ya and Isetan Scotts. It all added up nicely to a very well balanced, delicious meal.

After dinner, we headed to Roppongi for some nightlife but we didn't quite end up there. Instead we walked all the way to Tokyo tower. Japan's version of the Eiffel Tower. We walked along the streets of Roppongi and saw there were lots of black men, all touts for the various night spots in Roppongi. Hmmm... interesting. How the hell did they all end up here?

Doesn't it look like Paris?

We didn't get to go up Tokyo Tower in the end as it just closed when we got there. We did manage to take some photos though. We were pretty shacked out by the time we got here so we decided to head back to Andon soon after. It's been a really long day after all.

Day 5 - Ten-Ichi Deux lunch + Odaiba + Gonpachi

2006-11-01T00:29:00.001-08:00

I made a mistake on my itinerary today. Somehow I had failed to note that the place we were supposed to go for lunch - the famous Dote No Iseya Tempura- was closed on Wednesdays. We decided to go have tempura anyway after some discussion and headed to Ten-Ichi Deux - the cheaper version of Ten-Ichi , Tokyo's most famous (and expensive) tempura restaurant.

The tempura unfortunately was nice but not overwhelming. I suspect the good stuff's really at the main restaurant where I read that your tempura will be fried right before your eyes. However, the restaurant was chic and a nice place to chill out. Presentation was nice too.

We stayed a little longer coz it started to rain and we were supposed to go to Odaiba, a seaside area in Tokyo with a slightly futuristic appeal. What's also special about Odaiba is that you have to take the Yurikamome to reach it. Yurikamome is a nice scenic train ride that goes through the rainbow bridge and takes you to different parts of Odaiba.

Odaiba contrasted very much with Tokyo, being more spacious and laid back. There were quite a few shopping malls here, namely one called Venus Fort, a dog friendly place with nice boutiques. Both me and CK bought some clothes from there. The Toyota megaweb is here too. You can check out Toyota's latest concept cars and participate in a range of fun activities like their version of Daytona racing etc.

We took a break and sampled some delicious soup from Soup Stock Tokyo. I don't have the pictures of what we had but here's something from their website.

Anyway, time passed pretty fast coz we started out late today and before we knew it, it was dark. One thing about Odaiba is the fantastic, romantic night scene. It feels like we are in New York! Complete with Statue of liberty some more. Feels surreal.

We ended our first leg in Tokyo with a lovely dinner at Gonpachi. A popular jappy restaurant with a gorgeous view of the bay that inspired the set of Kill Bill .

Though expensive (we had a single wagyu yakitori stick that costs us a whopping 1500yen = S$20! ), this is one absolutely fantastic place to drink beer. I highly recommend this place to anyone who loves to drink. The atmosphere was infectiously boisterous and the service staff friendly and helpful. It may sound strange but I thought this was one of the most memorable dinners I had with CK.

Day 6 & 7 - Mount Fuji Climb

2006-09-28T23:53:00.000-07:00

Today, we are leaving Tokyo and heading to Mount Fuji for the much anticipated overnight climb. We planned everything around this event since we first decided to go to Japan last December. At first we had wanted to visit in April during the sakura season but after some discussion, we decided to do the climb instead.

It all began when I watched Ian Wright on Globe Trekker on his journey up Mount Fuji. There was something about his eyes that said he had accomplished something very special. While the view up there seemed amazing, I think what did it was the sheer number of people on the mountain with him. I told myself I had to do this someday.

Anyway, Mount Fuji's official climbing season is only from July to August. A whopping 3000 people climb it daily during this season. Most are Japanese as they believe that you must climb it once in your lifetime.

We departed for Fujigoko (Kawaguchiko) from Shinjuku bus station today. It's a less than 2 hour ride from Tokyo. We left Andon late and had a hard time locating the darn bus station. Stranded at the bus stop opposite Shinjuku station, we looked lost and this led to an encounter with what I call the 'helpful Japanese'. An elderly man in uniform came up to us and offered his help. Though his directions were vague and we didn't really understand him, we appreciated his nice gesture.

To cut the long story short, we finally did find the station. I was getting increasingly frustrated anyway coz I haven't had breakfast. But then came another problem. Which bus were we to get on? There was an electronic board that stated vehicle numbers, destination and time but they were all in Japanese. We finally resorted to simply showing random bus personnels our bus tickets. That proved to be the right thing to do as we finally found the right bus. Fortuntaely, I found 5 minutes to make a quick run to the convenience store to grab us some stuff to eat enroute to Kawaguchiko.

The bus took us out of modern Tokyo to the countryside. We know we have arrived when we saw the high rollercoaster rides that belonged to Fuji Q highland. And of course, we were greeted by the first glimpse of Fujisan.

Famished, we quickly dropped off our bag packs at the helpful tourist information centre and took off looking for food. There wasn't that much choice to begin with as Kawaguchiko is really a small town. We settled for this simple, homely cafe place and ordered a beef curry rice (miserable bits of beef but the curry taste wasn't too bad) and a Fujigoko specialty - Hoto noodles. It's like Ban Mian but prolly more hearty with huge chunks of pumpkin, potato, meat and the like.

After lunch, we went back to the tourist info centre and they helped us call our hotel for our free pickup. The annoying thing that happened was that the hotel took more than an hour plus to arrive. Apparently they made a mistake of picking up other people and headed back to the hotel without us. The lady at the tourist info centre felt so bad for us that she gave us a can of coffee each even though it was not at all her fault.

The delay kinda thwarted our plans to rest before our overnight climb. Eventually we ended up with only bout half an hour sleep after getting our stuff ready before we had to head back to Kawaguchiko to catch the bus that would take us to the 5th station.

A 50 minute bus ride took us to the 5th station of Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji is divided by 'stations', so you start from the 5th and move on to the 6th, 7th and so forth. The top was supposed to be the 10th station but apparently this season, they 'got rid' of the 9th and 10th stations (more about that later). What's interesting is that you know when you've arrived at a particular station when you start to see mountain huts. Here you can choose to burn a stamp onto your wooden walking stick for 200yen or pay an exhorbitant amount of money to sleep for awhile in there. Another strange thing was that there is not just one say. 7th station. Usually there are a FEW. And guess what, since they got rid of the 9th and 10th, we actually saw an 8.5 one before we reached the top. And darn, we were looking out for that 9th and 10th station tht never came which caused us to reach the top without realising.

Fellow climbers at the 5th station.

We ate a MOS-ish meal of burger and fries here. Also, a special mention about the toilets here. Bearing in mind we were ON a volcano (for goodness sake!), I would guess your toilet won't be your run-of-the-mill kind. Here, when you flush the toilet, instead of the all familiar big flush complete with swooshing sound with gallons of water, you see this strange bluish bubble foam creeping into the toilet bowl in slow motion.

Here we go! Me - still looking fresh.

We started on our journey at about 8.30pm. Pitch dark with a glowing full moon casting an eerie glow on the 5 lakes of Fujigoko below us, me and CK agreed that the whole thing felt surreal.

The trek up got really more difficult after the 7th station when it got really steep. And you had to go on your fours to pull yourself up certain sections. There were metal rails to help you up. Regular doses of oxygen also helped keep us from developing altitude sickness.

We were lucky that the weather tonight was good. Apparently there was a typhoon 2 days before. The wind only got much much stronger after we reached the first 8th station marked by nice red torii gates.

More 8th stations....

I think at about 3am everyone on the mountain started to panic. It was already around 3 plus when we saw the 8.5 station. Less than one more hour to go before sunrise.

The Japanese below started shouting at those at the top to I guess encourage everyone to go faster. The progress was getting slower and slower the higher we got up the mountain as we then ran into complete tour groups. It didn't help that it was also at the 8th station that the Kawaguchiko trail merges with another trail. We forced ourselves to keep going and going as panic started to set in amongst everyone. We only stopped briefly for a whiff of oxygen or a sip of water. No more 5 or 10 min breaks.

It proved to be worth the effort as we reached 9th station (the top and we didn't even know! ) just in time when a spectacular sliver of light first appeared and divided the sky beautifully.

The sun looked very much like a bright egg yolk. Truly a magnificent sight. As the sun rose higher, I asked CK whether he wanted to continue to reach the top. We barely walked a minute or two when we realised, 'Hey! We ARE at the top!' WE ARE AT THE HIGHEST POINT IN JAPAN!

The sun cast beautiful mauve shades in the sky and the mountains below looked just like a painting.

We got our final stamp on our walking sticks that said 'Sunrise at Mount Fuji 2006' ! Another mission I had to fulfill was to post some postcards from the post office on Mount Fuji where it will be earmarked with a special mount fuji stamp indicating it was a card posted from the top. It was quite a long walk to the office as it was on the other side of the mountain. Took me about 45 minutes and not to mention the treacherous road there. Scary.

We started back down the mountain at about 6am and boy, the less said of it the better. The pain on my knees were excruciating and as one fellow climber I met on the way down put it, "It kills all the fun huh?"

We reached the bottom at 9.30am.

Day 8 - Mount Fuji (Fujiyoshida + Fuji-Q Highland)

2006-09-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

After the good rest yesterday, I felt pretty much fully recovered from the climb. As we had to check out from Ashiwada Hotel by 9+, we started the day early. I felt a little bit sad that this was our last day in Fujigoko as I really liked the quaint, surreal feeling this place gives me. The small town feel and picturesque surroundings really made me feel like I was in a far, far away place from Singapore. Yet strangely, there is a tinge of familiarity I can't explain. I love Fujigoko. Below is the road outside our hotel:

Needless to say, our 1 kit kat and 1 instant noodles dinner last night didn't really sustain us so food was the first things on our minds this morning.

We went to Fujiyoshida, the other main area in the Fujigoko region besides Kawaguchiko. Fujiyoshida is famous for their udon as it is made with water found in this region. An interesting fact is that most of the udon shops are operated on the premises of people's homes.

We went in search of a Musashi Udon, a place rated highly by a bunch of ang mohs on the internet who ate at almost all the udon shops found in this area. As expected, the place really looked like an extension of the living room of someone's home.
Porn included. The place had a stack of porn magazines for you to browse through while you wait to be served.

It started to rain and we took refuge at Musashi's for awhile but the place closes at 2pm so we have to leave soon. Our next stop was Fuji Q Highland but as we were walking there, it started to rain HAIL! We had no choice but to take refuge outside an office. The weather change was drastic as it started to get really cold. We were stuck here for awhile before the weather allowed us to quickly run to a cafe nearby for some warmth.

Anyway, the rain finally stopped. The bad thing was that the rain made us run wayyy behind schedule (we were suppose to be at Fuji Q much much earlier) but the good thing was that Mount Fuji appeared even more beautiful after the rain coz the clouds were cleared.

The best view of Mount Fuji is none other than at the top of Fujiyama, a roller coaster ride in Fuji Q Highland. The ride treats you to a supreme view of Fujisan and then plunges you right down at XXX km/h.

Fuji Q also had a new ride called Eejanaika, a 3-D ride which I assume is related to the fact that your seat actually turns 360 degrees mid air.

We took the local train back to Kawaguchiko for dinner and check out how kawaii the train is! Why can't SMRT learn a thing or two? If there is one thing we can learn from the Japanese, it is that sometimes we can take ourselves less seriously and afford to be more outrageous.

We had MOS burger for dinner (strangely it was like 'connected' to a ramen shop, so it was only a half MOS shop) and yes, it is definitely better than Singapore's. I guess in Japan, they just have better ingredients. The taste was very fresh. We had a clam chowder, a yakiniku rice burger and a MOS special burger. It was all good except that the rice burger was juz plain ordinary. Hmm, it even looks ordinary.

We left Kawaguchiko on a Fujikyu bus at 830 pm. Like I said, I was sad to leave but we are just about to begin on our next leg of our trip so I was getting excited about Kansai as well. But it was goodbye to the most memorable traffic light theme song I ever heard in my life. I will remember this tune forever. I'm obsessed with it (And yes, I got it recorded. haha.)

I'll be definitely come back to Kawaguchiko!

Day 9 - Kyoto (Fushimi Inari + Higashiyama District)

2006-09-28T01:03:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Kyoto after a gruelling 10 hour ride. Interestingly, the Fujikyu bus was actually very comfortable (but then again, it better be coz we paid 8000 yen for it) considering what a long ride it was. What's amazing was that the bus only had ONE driver!!! Imagine toiling through the night from mount fuji to kyoto non-stop by yourself. Even between Singapore and KL, you get 2 drivers for a 5 hour journey!

It felt a bit surreal when we got off the bus. We've arrived in Kyoto. Though also a city, it felt very different from Tokyo. The bus had dropped us off at Kyoto station and we headed to look for macdonald's for some food. By far, this is the greasiest and tastiest mac's brekkie I ever had. C'mon it was a bacon and egg bagel drenched in mayo!! But what was even more interesting at Macs were all these Japanese ladies eating breakfast and putting on make-up. They all had with them their very own super huge mirrors. We were there at 6am in the mornng and there was this Ah Lian with her hair all done up - sprayed and styled in Barbie doll fashion. Strangely inspiring. Haha

We found our hostel (the very excellent K's house Kyoto), checked in and headed off to our first destination: Fushimi Inari Shrine. You may recognise it from Memoirs of a Geisha. What's special about this shrine is the endless line of bright orange Torii Gates that stretches from the bottom of the hill to the top. But I tell you, it was not funny climbing it at 37 degrees celcius. Me and CK nearly died from heat stroke and exhaustion.

After Fushimi, we headed back to our hostel and decided to have lunch at Dai-ichi Asahi Ramen. A small shop near Kyoto station. Apparently this is a very very popular ramen shop in Kyoto, and judging from the queue, I guess it's really true.

Dai-ichi serves shoyu-style ramen. It was really good as the noodles were silky and had a fantastic bite to it. Incidentally, CK ranks this as one of the top 3 things he ate in Japan.

Next on our itinerary was the must-see Higashiyama district. Here, you'll see old Kyoto with its endless slew of temples, old style shops, shrines and all.

Kiyomizudera Temple was jammed packed with people with several tour groups thronging the place. Anyway, what's interesting was that there was this place just before the main entrance that houses Kwan Yin's womb. Yes, you enter her womb! And basically you walk in complete darkness (it's so dark you have to keep your hand in front of your face) and reach this circular thing that you can turn and make a wish). One of the strange things you can only find in Japan. Here's the signboard of that place (you can read the kanji that says womb):

Check out how super crowded Kiyomizudera is:

We walked through Higashiyama and ultimately kinda ended up past Yasaka Shrine and back at downtown Kyoto, near Gion. Feeling hungry, this weird Okonomiyaki shop that had kinky kama sutra-ish drawings and dolls with pubic hair caught our attention. What's even weirder was their menu, which was soooo big but only contained one item! And did I mention the mannequins dressed in kimono seated at every table "accompanying" you?

And we finally rounded off our day with a Tofu Kaiseki meal (we couldnt afford kaiseki ryori) at Tousuiro, a famous tofu shop.

Day 10 - Kyoto (Arashiyama & Sagano)

2006-09-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

It says on our itinerary today we were supposed to visit Kinkakuji Temple in the morning and head on down to Arashiyama. Unfortunately, we were stuck doing laundry and ran really late (partly thanks to this girl who was hogging the dryer for an hour!). I couldn't take the waiting and went to ask Chisato at the reception if there were any outdoor place to hang our clothes. Turned out that there was! But by then the damage has already been done and after a slight argument with CK ( I was pissed I didn't get to go Kinkakuji), we decided to head straight to Arashiyama.

We took the JR train there and as we were in the middle of the Obon holidays, the train was packed. Manage to snag a seat and on our way there, we noticed something moving in a pram. It was a dashcund! Haha... and the girl next to us kept going 'kawaii nehhh' at the dog.

In 15min, we were in Arashiyama. As usual scorching hot. And as usual super crowded. Went to get our tickets fo the Torokko-Sagano Romantic Train ride but damn, only standing tickets were left. Since we had an hour to spare, we went to this quaint looking cafe run by two old ladies. Why are we not surprised but this shop had the latest porn mags too. We ordered an interesting Kyoto brewed Amber Ale and a not so interesting club sandwich. It did fill us up though.

Time for our train ride. The romantic train is those kinda choo-choo train like Thomas the train. What's very interesting was that we were treated to some lovely Karaoke by one of the train officers while waiting for the train to move on schedule. A cute retro red and yellow color, it took us on a scenic ride at the top of the gorges of Hozu River.

The train ultimate came to our final stop and here, you can take a 10 minute bus ride to the starting point of the Hozu Gawa Boat Trip. A scenic boat trip on the Hozu River, through gorges and some exciting rapids, both me and CK agreed this was one of the best experiences of our trip.

The boat is rowed using bamboo sticks where 3 strong guys take turns to row, steer and helm the boat. It's amazing.
Anyway one of the boat men was really funny. Though he only spoke Japanese, I think he kept telling alot of jokes coz the other 25 Japanese people onboard were laughing alot.

The gorge was beautiful and filled with activity. We came across teenagers camping, a Japanese girl and gaijin perched on the rocks, a labrador and his owner playing fetch and families etc. You get a nice serene feeling from the ride. Most of the trees were green coz it was summer but it was still gorgeousl. Imagine autumn!! What was also intersting is towards the end, a boat selling food and drinks comes to our boat, attaches itself to our boat before powering off together using its speed motor. Had this bbq squid which was damn bloody nice.

Anyway, from lovely Arashiyama, we headed back to Kyoto for dinner. We went to Pontocho, a narrow, atmospheric lane filled with bars and restaurants (notably one of the two hangouts for geishas.)

We finally ended up at this hot stone barbeque place called Ishiyaki Jidori Issian. It was really fun eating here coz we sat at the counter and was treated to various cuts of tasty chicken, pork and beef. We had pork cheek, chicken cartilage, prime rib, liver etc and you had to dip the meat into some grated onion first before dumping on the hot plate to cook. . The meat tastes very different from what we have here. It is simply naturally sweeter. And even the daikon tofu salad was excellent. Till this day I have cravings for it. Love the texture. And apparently even the rice they serve here is of some supreme quality (went very well with the meat) and with interesting presentation. You time your rice using an hourglass.

A memorable day that ended with a memorable meal. What a great day. Love Kyoto too.

Day 11 - Nishiki Market @ Kyoto + Osaka

2006-09-13T02:14:00.000-07:00

Today, we are suppose to leave Kyoto for Osaka so we went to downtown Kyoto to do some last minute sightseeing at Nishiki Market. I read that Nishiki Market is a vibrant market that stocks Kyoto's freshest produce and how true.

We went back to K's house, checked out and got ready for our next destination - Osaka! K's house Kyoto is about the best hostel in Japan I think. Coincidentally, It's voted the No.1 hostel in Asia by Hostelworld. In my opnion K's house Kyoto was even better than Andon. Immaculately clean and friendly with superb facilities. Highly recommended.

Anyway we took a limited express train from Kyoto to Osaka and reached at about 3pm. Osaka struck me as garishly fun with a sense of humour. Just take a look at this dog plaza opposite my hotel. 12 storeys of dog related services and the building even has a pug head sticking out!

Our hotel was conveniently located in the Shinsaibashi area, a few blocks away from Tokyu Hands. Shinsaibashi is a covered walkway that stretches from near my hotel, towards the Dotombori River and all the way towards Namba. It's jam packed with people, pachinko parlors, tako ball stalls, food, shops etc etc. I really liked the festival vibe I got at the main Dotombori stretch near the Kirin Plaza where they had a microbrewery. Fun and filled with loads of Ah Lians!

Me and CK went on a street food rampage. We started at the Kirin Plaza for beer and some bratwurst, then had tako balls and teppanyaki beef stomach, moved on to have ramen at this famous stand up stall and then we finally wound up at our last stop, Jiyuken, a place Anthony Bourdain visited on one of the episodes of A Cook's Tour.

Jiyuken is famous for its curry rice which is actually a very very delicious simple dish. It's literall rice mixed with curry sauce and served with a raw egg on top. You mix up everything and the result is this very lovely home cooked taste. Most people also order a serving of tempura to go with it. Simple, yummy and memorable. Mmm...I like it very much.

Day 12 - Himeji Castle + Kyoto Daimonji Festival

2006-09-13T01:22:00.000-07:00

Had breakfast at the hotel today. Hmmm. Not very good. I was disappointed actually but we were going on a day trip to visit the Himeji Castle (one hour away from Osaka) so we stuck to whatever that was convenient.

Got on the way and tried to buy the JR west kansai one day pass but I had left my passport back at the hotel! Ugh. I had to go back to the hotel in the end to get it. What a damper.

Anyway, back to Himeji Castle. Himeji Castle, also called Shirasagijo (White Heron Castle) due to its white outer walls, is the best preserved castle in all of Japan. A classic example of Japanese castle architecture, Himeji Castle has never been damaged by warfare, even during the Second World War. That is one of the reasons why Himeji Castle has kept its original form for nearly 400 years. In 1993, Himeji Castle was registered on UNESCO's World Heritage list.

Really beautiful and well preserved. We walked around the castle grounds and proceeded to the main castle building where it acts as a museum of some sort, showcasing the artworks and other belongings of the Shoguns who ruled this castle. I was very amazed at how well well kept the items were. This was one of the artworks showcased in the castle

And at the 6th floor of the castle (the top) where you can see the city of Himeji.

We spent half the day at Himeji and ate at Macdonald's before heading to Kyoto to catch the Daimonji Festival. Daimonji Festival happens every year on August 16 where beds of fire in the shape of the Kanji 'Big' are prepared and lit by monks. Also considered the most magnificent of Kyoto's August Obon festivities.

Day 13 - Osaka (Tempozan Harbour Village + Caramel Frosty @ Den Den Town + Nin Nin @ Shinsaibashi)

2006-09-13T00:28:00.000-07:00

We headed to the bayside area of Osaka today where Universal Studios, the Osaka Aquarium and Tempozan Habour Village is. Hmmmm, another scorching hot day and it was quite a torture even when walking from Osakako station to the shopping mall.

Tempozan Harbour Village was a bit of a non-event. It was small and not exciting... not to mention still very hot despite it being a mall! Anyway we went around in search for our lunch and was pretty disappointed with what we had in the end. Started off with this savoury crepe thing that had a long line (not very fantastic) and since we both had a huge craving for Oyako Don, we ended up eating at the food court. Taste wise the Oyako Don was pretty alright but presentation its almost nil.

We left the bay area quickly and headed back to Namba. Definitely more interesting. Walked round and we decided to seek refuge from the heat at a nice cafe called Caffe Kohikan. What a choice. Coz I had the absolute best ever ice blended in my entire life. I was totally blown away!

Those who know me, usually I only drink hot drinks but somehow I ordered a Caramel Frosty at this place. With my first sip, I was jolted up by the smoothest, creamiest, most balanced ice blended I ever had. Orgasmic.

Then we walked around Den Den town (Osaka's equivalent of Akhibara in Tokyo) where we came across a stretch of gay comic shops. We walked on further and saw this, I assume, lesbian bar .

From Namba, we walked up towards Shinsaibashi. Dinner time was approaching and we started looking for a place to settle our dinner since we had a bus to catch to Tokyo tonight at 10.30pm. In the end, we went to this little gem in Osaka called Nin Nin @ Shinsaibashi, a place recommended on gourmet navigator. Here, we had one of our most memorable dinner ever.

Foie Gras with Daikon Consomme. Sent me to the moon and back.

A5 Black Fur Wagyu Beef Sashimi. Look at the marbling. Melts in your mouth. Me and CK agreed it tasted like Otoro. For the uninitiated Black Fur Wagyu is a more highly prized variety of Japanese cattle and within this species, there are 5 grades, A5 being the best in terms of its marbling.

Satsuma Chicken done rare. Check out the presentation with the flames and all.

Dessert Platter of Almond Jelly, Creme Brulee and Dark choc cake with green tea ice cream. What a way to perfectly end the meal. The almond jelly tasted like custard and the creme brulee was done on a flat dish so you get the 'maximum' caramelized crust on top. The chocolate cake and green tea ice cream (covered by the sugared crust on top) were excellent too.

Top everything off with the very sensual decor. One of the best dining experiences I ever had. Food, presentation, service, decor and atmosphere were all top-notch.

Day 14 - Tokyo ( Ikebukuro + Shibuya + Alcatraz/ER)

2006-09-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

After an 8 hour bus ride from Osaka, we are back in Tokyo at about 6.30am in the morning. The bus dropped us at Tokyo JR Station and we lugged our barang barang all the way to the metro station towards our hostel in Kuramae.

I finally reached and fortunately there was someone to help us open the door. Reception only opens at 8am you see. This K's house was new (just open in June this year) and even had a lift in there! Anyway CK plonked onto the sofa to catch a few winks while I went to the toilet. It is bloody weird and surreal coz as I approached the toilet, I saw a Dashchund running past outside with its owner. My 1st 'ambush' by a Dashchund in Tokyo!

Anyway we finally got to check in and rest abit. Then we headed out for lunch. We decided to go have Dote No Iseya Tempura in Minowa (closed the last time we attempted to go). Anyway, it was lunchtime when we went and we had to queue up in the sweltering hot sun. 37 degrees!!!!

Dote No Iseya is a very very old tempura restaurant that serves edomae-style tempura. It is by far the best tempura I had ever eaten in my life (but I can't say it's the best in the world coz apparently there's the super expensive Ten-Ichi in Ginza which is super famous too). Anyway we ordered some sort of tempura platter with the works and a tempura bowl topped with loads of tempura. I think the picture speaks for itself. It's really fantastic and I thought the wait worth it. Special mention to the prawn and eel served on this platter. So super fresh and for the eel, it melts in the mouth. Perfect.

After a very satisfied lunch, we headed down to Ikebukuro where we did abit of shopping in the countless mega shopping malls there. Very good choice to spend the afternoon we thought coz it was a great way to escape the sweltering heat outside.

Anyway Ikebukuro felt like the poorer cousin of Ginza and Shibuya to me. Lots of shopping centres and people but seemingly louder than Ginza but not as vibrant as Shibuya. We then headed down to Shibuya for dinner before we proceed to Alcatraz + ER restaurant for drinks. Walked around abit and ended up at this ramen chain we saw previously in Osaka called Oishi Ramen. Pretty good but not as good as Dai-ichi Asahi or the one in Shinjuku we had.

We finally headed to our last stop for the day: Alcatraz + ER. This is a themed restaurant with a prison/medical theme found near several love hotels in Dogenzaka in Shibuya. Very kinky indeed. We got to the front door of the restaurant and was asked to push a button which had your blood type on it.

Open sesame. A 'doctor' and 'nurse' were waiting for us at the door. The nurse duly informed us that one of us would have to take a very painful "injection". I quickly pointed at CK and the doctor passed a giant sryinge to the nurse. I tot it would be some electrical shock device but after all the build up it was just a "joke". haha.

We were then handcuffed and led to our seats. After which, we ordered a 'jug' of beer which came in some sort of pee collecting device you see in hospitals.

There was also a show which was really funny. First there were 'ghosts' which came in and attacked us. The ghost went for this Jap guy sitting next to us and when the fella fought back, the ghost climbed on top of his bench, grabbed the poor guy's face and thrusted it into his crotch. Me and CK were laughing so hard. hahah. Then came the actual show where they abducted some customers and proceeded to place a huge moving dildo on them, claiming they needed to be 'cured' . hahha.

Anyway I had a fabulous time at Alcatraz. It had a super fun atmosphere and was spontaneous, ridiculous and bizarre at the same time. Check out the other drink I ordered. Very kinky.

All in all I had a really memorable time. The people were sporting and fun.

Day 15 - Tokyo (Maisen + Shimo-Kitazawa + Shinjuku)

2006-09-12T20:13:00.000-07:00

We're really back in Maisen today. The second time! This time I ordered the Tonkatsu (black pork) Fillet topped on a bed of shredded egg and rice while CK had the Katsu Don (again). I just can't get over the Black Kurobata Pork they serve at Maisen. It's thick and juicy. Pure heaven just to bit into it and taste the sweetness of the meat. What's more, it's coated with this light batter that is ultra crispy and not at all oily.

We walked down the fashionable Omotesando street and headed to Shimo Kitazawa after that. Shimo Kitazawa is like the St Kilda or Fremantle of Tokyo. Very laid back vibe with streets lined with cafes, Opp shops and small eating places. I really liked it here coz people seemed to be more relaxed and the whole place had a very nice quaint atmosphere.

One thing I noticed about Japan was that Dashchunds were the most popular dogs in Japan! No doubt about it. They seemed to 'ambush' us everywhere. Somehow at Shimo Kitazawa an ambush seemed inherent. Ah hah! And before we knew it, trottling down the streets of Shimo Kitazawa were 5!!!!

After Shimo Kitazawa, we went down to Shinjuku again to walk around and search for dinner. In the end, we wound up at Yoshinoya and had one of our cheapest meal in Japan so far. A beef set costs about 480Y. Anyway it was not bad but we agreed that the other Gyu Chain called Sukiya fared much better in terms of taste.

Day 16 - Tokyo (Ueno + Airport)

2006-09-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

Today's our last day in Japan and we decided to pop back to Ueno for lunch and grab some last minute shopping (read: food to lug home).

We walked around abit and saw this super happening, steaming hot yakitori place jammed pack with people and decided we'll eat there. The menu was all in Japanese but I could read some kanji/chinese characters on the menu and we started off from there before looking around and simply pointing what looked good on other people's plates.

We finished eating and went off to the Ameyoko Market and grabbed a box of 5 peaches (intensely juicy and sweet), a box of Kyoho Grapes and packs of Japanese seaweed and konbu. We picked up some more stuff at the deli supermarket in Ueno Station and even bought a box of prepacked Maisen Tonkatsu sandwich to enjoy on the flight home!

It was a rush back to the hostel where we then did abit of repacking and said goodbye to the fantastic K's house crew.
On the flight home, strangely I didn't feel super duper sad to go. Maybe coz we had such a fulfilling trip, we did all that we wanted to do so there were no regrets. And definitely oso coz I know I am gonna come back!! And real soon too!

Miharu Ramen on 9 September (Dinner)

2006-09-11T23:45:00.000-07:00

Miharu serves sapporo style ramen using Sapporo Nishiyama noodles imported from Hokkaido. It's more yellow and curlier as compared to the kind of ramen in Tokyo and Osaka.

We had the Tokusen Ton-Shio (Pork Salt) Ramen and Tonkusen (special blend) Miso Ramen. Service was pretty speedy so you don't have to wait too long. For both, I thought the stock was pretty tasty with the pretty standard layer of oil swimming on top. I liked the Miso one better actually. Can't give a reason why. I thought the noodles were not bad. The curly nature of the noodles gave it some springiness when you slurped it up.

Anyway I asked CK which one he preferred, he just said it cannot compare to the Dai-ichi Asahi Ramen we had in Kyoto. The ramen there comes with a tasty shoyu soup with noodles that had a very good bite. For me however, the ramen that left a deep impression on me was one we had in Kabukicho, Shinjuku. This one has thicker noodles as compared to Dai-ichi, not to mention the monstrous portion!

For 800yen, we both shared one bowl of super big bowl of ramen topped with chunks of char-shu, bean sprouts and spring onion and took turns eating it, sharing just one seat coz it was a super crowded counter place.. and we had problems finishing it (!!!) while every Japanese simply slurped it up in half the time. I'll post up a picture of that place soon.

La Strada Ristorante on 9 September (Lunch)

2006-09-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

Beef Carpaccio...

I read alot about La Strada since it opened and did a little research on the net about it. Seems like they serve really excellent Italian food so I made a reservation for me and CK.

All in all, after all the good things I read, it was a little let down with the kind of quality I expect when tagged to the price. I mean the food is definitely far from being bad but it was certainly not mindblowing. We agreed it will be our first and last visit. A special mention for the service though, it was very very attentive and the deco was very 'Omotesando-ish'.

Anyway, we ordered a 4 course set lunch, the entree of beef carpaccio and a main of mudcrab/white wine pasta. Topped with a lunch special duet of a white and red wine. I'll get to the main point. I read so much about the beef carpaccio but though presentation wise it was very nice but we thought it was juz so-so. The same for the mudcrab pasta. Strangely, it kinda reminded me of prawn hokkien mee actually. The mudcrab was very nice and fresh but again, I had higher expectations.

My starter...

The 4 course set lunch which cost $46 was a little disappointing. My tapas starter which was a slice of french loaf topped with some seasonal veges was slightly burnt which gave it a bitter taste. The topping was really nice and light but the burnt, bitter taste of the toast spoiled it.

The linguine that came next was much much better. It was simple and delicious. It was simply a nice tomato base topped with a dollop of creamy cheese which worked very well. We both enjoyed this one.

Next was the a smallish grilled beef (steak?? ) with rocket salad. I hated this one. The thickness was all wrong. It was too thin for me and I dunno why but I thought it tasted oily. Again and unforgivable thing is this one had that same burnt taste too. I mean it was not burnt as in burnt but the grill markings on the steak gave it a bitter taste.

Dessert was pretty good. Some nougat that had icecream in it. Nice chewy texture and creaminess of the ice cream .

And lastly, a special mention for the white wine I was served. Sorry I don't have the exact name but it was very interesting for me. The after taste was very floral and nice though the wine itself was pretty dry. I like it in a funny way.

All in all, I think maybe the pizzeria next door could be more worth it. To our horror we saw they had a nice set lunch of pizza + cream of cauliflower at only $16!!! Ughhhh. Maybe that one next time. But for La Strada Ristorante, maybe not.

Kazu Sumiyaki on 10 September

2006-09-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

Kazu Sumiyaki. A lovely little Yakitori place in Cuppage Plaza that (in my opinion) serves the best Japanese food in Singapore. There's no lunch at this place, they only do dinner. Which, again in my opinion, is the beauty of it. Like what the waitress said on our first visit, lunch is simply too rushed as the whole concept was to eat a little, chat a little and drink a little. Then repeat the same whole process again and again till you hit the 3 to 4 hour mark.

Me and CK just came back from a fantassstic 16 day trip to Japan where we ate and ate so much good food (will blog about this in my later posts). Anyway we decided that Kazu really held it's own even when up against the fantastic food we ate in Japan (even though it doesn't really have the luxury of having purely japanese supplies). So we're back.

I went with my sister and CK this time.So first off we ordered a bottle of red. Kazu has this little basket displayed at the corner of the counter that showcases the items that are in season. This time we went, they had Momo (peach) and musk melon amongst a few other things displayed. The last time we were here it was some kinda Japanese root vegetable and bamboo shoot which was served as an appetizer. The bamboo shoot was excellent.. crunchy texture with none of the overpowering bamboo sharp taste.

Anyway, back to what we had. We started off with a few sticks and the wagyu beef stew we had the last time we were here. The wagyu was flavourful with a distinctive Japanese taste (incidentally we ate something like that in Iggy's before too) and the meat was so tender it melts in the mouth. Some very good sticks we had included the lotus root stuffed with minced chicken, Kurobata Pork with eggplant, Pork belly wrapped around hotate & prawn, Silver cod belly, Zucchini with chicken, Pork belly with sweet potato... in fact all the skewers we had this evening were all very very good...

Some special mention to a few seasonal/non-skewer items we ordered. We ordered this salmon milt (read: sperm) gratin baked with pumpkin skin and mushrooms. Salmon milt tasted very much like a denser tofu but with a faint fishy kick. Incidentally, the waitress told us we were the 1st customers to order it. Another thing that left an impression on me was the Konnyaku Cold Appertizer we ordered coz my sister actually wanted to order the Konnyaku skewer but the waitress recommended the appetizer instead.

Konnyaku (also known as devil's tongue) is some kind of root with a gelatine like texture. And this appetizer we ordered tasted very much like the bean sprout appetizer me and calvin had in Maisen Tonkatsu in Tokyo that comes when u order a beer. The only bad thing was that we did not have it at the beginning, if not it'll be even more perfect.

We finished off with dessert which included the highly potent Mocha Ice cream, a slice of musk melon and 'Snow Drop' a mochi filled with pumpkin mousse. My sister was totally blown away by the ice cream. I should know why... it tastes like cream of expresso. It's that good. I highly recommend it. The musk melon was a little disappointing. Though it had the juiciness characteristic of a japanese melon, it lacked the sweetness. And for snow drop, though I am not a fan of mochi, this one was fantastic. The skin was ultra thin and light, melting in the mouth, in unison with the creamy mouse filling. 5 stars for this one.

Eating at Kazu is like an experience. The atmosphere is always fantastic and you have waitresses who really know the food, and who are interested in the food. I highly recommend this place. Come with friends!!!

the beginning

2006-09-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

It's September 11 today and I started my first blog. I guess there is no real relation to Sept 11 and my blog but I guess I'll just highlight what my blog will be mostly about.

1) Food

2) Travel

3) Dogs

4) Other rants