this and that

I kind of stopped making my own granola because it was hard to find reasonably priced maple syrup, so we’ve been trying all kinds of granola…this peanut butter chocolate granola was too sweet

Loved this cat posing...saw him in a record shop in Jimbocho

This “granola” by Ogawa Herbal Medicine, uses no oils or sugars, just toasted/puffed rice and roasted soy beans...nutty in flavor, delicious

Tokyo People: saw these two going somewhere dressed in yukata (summer kimono)

7-eleven now sells donuts...I bought one to try, this was their maple flavored...140 yen (tax included)...they give you a little sugar to put onto your donut, I didn't use it, the donut was quite soft and a little sweet.

They also have chocolate and custard filled

Tried this O-i ocha Premium strong...it is brewed really strong, a little bitter.

Apparently they have a limited amount out on the market, so I’m glad I got to try this

Tokyo People: this guy's helmet!

Satoshi's friend, A, sent us a boxful of shine muscat...Thank you!

I had also ordered an assortment of grapes from Asunaroen through Tabechoku...and they came a day after A's grapes...so my refrig has been taken over by two boxes...

There are 9 different grapes and they also included a "map" to explain which grapes were which, but we couldn't tell them apart

Some had seeds, some did not, some outer flesh could be eaten, some could not, some were sweet, some were not...glad we got to try them.

The sunset the other night....

also came across the new 5000 yen bill (top) which features Umeko Tsuda, who spent her life fighting for higher education for women and founded Tsuda University 

Almost the end of September...so fast!

shine muscat and charcuterie

Over the weekend, Satoshi ordered Shine muscats from his friend.

He said he ordered 2 kilos but it looks like it might be more...with shipping and tax 4000 yen?! not sure how much since Satoshi ordered it...

I ordered a selection of sausages from Meister Toganeya, who makes their sausages in the German style.

I was particularly interested in their Linguica because I am always on the lookout for “portuguese sausage”.

I also ordered their corned beef, chorizo, weißwurst (white sausage), liver pate and salami…5590 yen (tax and shipping included).

Since this charcuterie maker does not use preservatives, I put almost everything into the freezer for us to enjoy with wine or breakfast in the coming weeks.

So far, we've had some of the liver pate as banh mi.

The maker suggest toasting the pate on baguette, so that is what I did, super flavorful and creamy!

And one of the linguica with rice and egg...so ono! the meat inside the casing is super tender and tastes similar to the portuguese sausage we have in Hawaii.

The weather has been in-between Fall and Summer, so it is hard to determine what to wear, whether to bring an umbrella or whether to turn on the ac.

I hope the weather is nice where you are.

umeshu

1st time trying to make umeshu (plum wine).

The directions were similar to when I made ume syrup (5 years ago).

1kilogram ume

1 kilogram rock sugar

1800 milliliters liquor

Here is what I did:

Wash the ume.

Take out the “belly button” with a barbecue skewer.

Sanitize the jar with some sake.

Dry each ume with a cloth.

Layer the rock sugar, and ume 

Pour in the alcohol.

I used kokuto shochu (liquor made from black sugar)

Now to wait a year.

NOTES: the most frustrating thing was waiting for the ume to be delivered.

When I ordered the 1 kilogram of ume, I was told it would arrive between 5 to 15 days after ordering…

Since I ordered it on May 18, 15 days would have been around June 3rd.

The next day (May 19), I got an email that said harvesting would start from June 3rd and he would be sending orders out in the order he received them, so my order would be sent out sometime between June 3rd and 13th

well June 13 came and I had heard nothing from the farm...boo!

Since I noticed on Tabechoku that others were receiving their orders, I emailed the farm on the 13th and was told my order would arrive by the 16th…um I think they should have contacted me to tell me it would arrive later than the 13th…

I received the ume yesterday and they were huge! and was a little more than 1 kilogram.

The farm grows the ume naturally without pesticides, so there were some black spots on the fruit but the fruit itself was still firm.

Drama this morning...I checked on it and it had overflowed (eep!), so I had to scoop out some of the liquid and some ume so that the liquid would come up only up to the base of the neck of the big bottles

Glad I checked and now I know not to fill it to the top! (live and learn)

Crossing fingers this turns out good.

iwasakien

It is grape season here as well.

I wanted to get my hands on some Pizzutello Bianco (the pointy grapes that we tried in the past), and found some online from Iwasakien, a farm in Yamanashi prefecture.

Love the picture/poster they include when you open your box.

I purchased their smallest amount which was 2 kilos which turned out to be 3 large bunches.

My fridge is now filled with this box of grapes…whoo!

Unlike the pizzutello bianco we tried in the past which were seedless, these have seeds.

Still, very sweet and crisp though.

I'm glad I found some online and we'll be enjoying this for a couple of days. 

lake kawaguchi (day 2)

We woke up early the next morning but Mount Fuji was still "sleeping".

Breakfast was quite heavy (for me)...an omelette, ham, sausage, some lettuce....yogurt, orange juice, toast, coffee.

After checking out, we walked from our hotel back to Lake Kawaguchi.

This is what the Momiji Kairo (Fall Foliage Corridor) looks like in morning lighting.

Can you believe the leaves were more plentiful and more colorful last week?!

Satoshi wanted to check out the Itchiku Kubota Museum, and since Mount Fuji was still "sleeping", we decided to check this museum out.

Itchiku Kubota was a textile artist who apparently revived a lost art technique called "tsujigahana" which is a method of dyeing and decorating cloth.

The kimono collection (on display) that he created were beautiful.

And the grounds that his museum is on is also beautiful, so be sure to walk around.

Admission is 1300 yen but worth it to see the hillsides behind the buildings especially since the leaves had changed.

Lunch was at Momiji-tei, which is famous for houtou.

Houtou is a local dish that is similar to miso soup with flat noodles in it.

Satoshi had the kinoko (mushroom) version while I ordered the kabocha (pumpkin).

Huge pieces of kabocha, daikon (radish) as well as other veggies and noodles...it was a very hardy dish.

After lunch, Mount Fuji decided to show herself, so we decided to check her out...

We went to Shimoyoshida and climbed up to see the view of Mount Fuji at the Arakurayama Sengen Park.

This is where many people, maybe even Lonely Planet has taken many shots of Mount Fuji.

At this time of day though, the backlight was pretty harsh so the photos we took were mostly shadowy.

If you are interested in seeing a short video, click the link here.

I hope you enjoyed our short adventure as much as we did.

We were lucky to see Mount Fuji for two days in a row.

Momiji-tei
3067-1 Kawaguchi, Minamitsuru-ward
Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi
Phone: 0555.76.8200
Hours 10:30-21:00

Arakurayama Sengen Park
From Fujikyu Shimoyoshida station about 10 minutes plus 398 stairs.
3353-1 Arakura, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi

lake kawaguchi

From Shinjuku, it is about 2 hours by train to Lake Kawaguchi in Yamanashi Prefecture.

We've visited this area quite a few times over the years, most times being able to see Mount Fuji.

Click on the link to see a short video of Mount Fuji as seen from the Fujikyu train.

The train engineer was nice and drove slowly, so we all could get photos and such.

The photo above was taken near the Momiji Kairo (Fall Foliage Corridor)

Sadly, most of the trees in this area were past their peak.

Still, it was nice to be able to visit this area.

We walked along the lake and stopped in to Cafe Mimi for something to eat.

I ordered this gateau chocolat (chocolate cake) which came with tons of fruit! (cantaloupe, dragon fruit, strawberry, blueberry, banana, grapefruit, kaki (persimmon), nashi (asian pear), kiwi, and orange (and a scoop of vanilla ice cream))...Satoshi agreed it was worth the 1500 yen (about $15)....

Satoshi ordered the shrimp pasta, which came with a salad and drink for 2000 yen but thought his order should've been priced at 1500 while mine at 2000.

It was nice to gaze at Mount Fuji and listen to jazz while we ate.

Dinner was at the hotel we stayed at.

A beef herb terrine (more like pâté), marinated salmon and chicken cacciatora.

Amatriciana...too bad the garlic was burnt and bitter.

Filet steak with balsamic sauce...tender!

Raspberry mousse and kaki (persimmon).

It was a delicious meal, despite the bitter garlic...though I wished they had served more veggies.

Found this picture in the lobby...so cute!

We were lucky to have such great weather.

Hotel Saint Village
1666-1 Funatsu, Minamitsuru-ward
Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi
Phone: 0555.72.3453

peach curry

Another thing we bought were these instant peach curries from Yamanashi prefecture.

I had heard about this before and had it in the back of my mind.

I love the name of the peach farm...Ariga-to-en (it is a play on words "garden of thanks" and Ariga Peach Farm)

We bought a spicy version and a beef version.

They incorporate peach chutney and also pieces of peach too.

Both were delicious.

The spicy version was good, the burn lingers.

I'm glad we got to try these.

koshu-ni

"Koshu" refers to the north-eastern part of Yamanashi prefecture.

It is also where wine is produced.

On our recent trip to "see" Mt Fuji, we spent a lot of time checking out different omiyage (souvenirs).

One thing we picked up were these scallops that were cooked in wine..."koshu-ni"

For most tsukudani, it is food that is seasoned with shoyu, sugar and mirin. In this case, they use wine in place of mirin and call it "koshu-ni".

You can't taste any alcohol, which is a good thing.

And this is very good with rice. And with beer.

If you visit this part of Japan, you might want to give this a try.

lake bake, some sights & grom

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that we had some delicious bread with our dinner. The bread was baked here at a tiny shop and cafe called Lake Bake. The owner of the B&B told us about the shop as we were checking-out. This shop is right near the shore of Lake Kawaguchi and the cafe has a great view of the lake and Mt Fuji (on a clear day).

Having just eaten a big breakfast, we instead bought some "emergency" food. A milk bread filled with butter and honey 186 yen (about US$1.86) and a baguette coated with honey 230 yen (about US$2.30). We ate these on our bus ride back to Tokyo (this was actually lunch for us). The milk bread was soft and the sweet butter filling was delicious. The baguette despite being coated with honey was crisp, delicious with a touch of sweetness.

A couple of doors down from the bakery was the Nature Center. This center has blueberry jam making classes as well as a lavender festival.

We bought some jams (apricot, blueberry & rhubarb)600 yen (about US$6). The rhubarb jam caught my eye because I've seen rhubarb used in desserts and at restaurants but never in the markets here.

We also bought kodaimai (literally ancient rice), this rice is like a short grain wild rice 1000 yen for 650 grams (about US$10). There are red grains, black/purple grains. When you add a tablespoon of it to a cup of white rice, it will turn the rice red or black/purple when cooked. There has been talk over the years that this type of rice has more minerals in it, though I don't know if this is true. I like it because the rice seems to get a bit more chewy and tastes a little nutty.

We also found a mochi covered truffle from Kin-Daruma. Chocolate ganache is covered with a soft mochi (rice cake) then dusted with some cocoa powder. 900 yen (about US$9) for 9 in a box. Delicious! Eaten right out of the refrig was the best! Soft mochi and the semi-hard ganache...mmm.

Though most of the sights like museums and such around Lake Kawaguchi can be seen in a day or so, we felt that to be able to see Mt Fuji from the various points around the lake was the true attraction.

Our last stop before going to Haneda was stopping to have some gelato. I had heard about Grom from Kathy & David's blogs. This Italian gelato shop recently opened in Tokyo on April 24th and is the only shop in Japan, so you can imagine the lines!

Apparently during the Golden Week the wait was 2 hours, luckily we got our gelato after a 20 minute wait. There were so many flavors it was hard to decide. Unfortunately by the time we got there, Pistachio (which was one I wanted to try) was already sold out.

Satoshi chose the piccolo (small) cone with Yogurt & Coffee, 490 yen (about US$4.90), these were a bit grainy but the flavor was delicious. The yogurt was a little tart and the coffee (made with Guatemalan coffee) had lots of flavor.

I chose the piccola (small) cup with Crema di Grom (meliga biscuits, egg cream and Ecuador chocolate chips) & Extra Noir Chocolate (Bolivian chocolate gelato with chocolate chips), apparently no cream or milk is used to make this extra chocolaty gelato so it was very rich! this is for chocoholics only! The crema di grom was delicious, I liked the crisp biscuits here and there and the dark chocolate chips were delicious too. My cup was also 490 yen (about US$4.90).

We enjoyed the gelato, though we wished we could have eaten it slowly to savor it, but the line outside waiting to come in made it hard to relax.

On a side note, have you ever seen the eye of Shinjuku? I hadn't so Satoshi took me to the basement of the Subaru building, located in Nishi-Shinjuku.

There is a sculpture of a mezmerizing eye. Made by Yoshiko Miyashita in 1969, the center of this "eye" spins. Kind of neat to watch everyone walk by without really taking notice of it, I guess they see it everyday...I actually found video of this on you tube (check it out)!

Hope you enjoyed our little trip! We surely had a good time (despite the weather).

Lake Bake
2585-86 Ooishi
Minamitsurugun Fujikawaguchikomachi, Yamanashi
Phone: 0555.76.7585
Closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays
Open 10:00-18:00

Lake Kawaguchi Nature Center
2585 Ooishi
Minamitsurugun Fujikawaguchikomachi, Yamanashi
Phone: 0555.76.8230
Closed Fridays (during July-September open)

Kin-daruma
7407 Funatsu
Minamitsurugun Fujikawaguchikomachi, Yamanashi
Phone: 0555.72.2567
Open 9:00-18:00

Grom Gelato (UPDATE: this location no longer in business)
Shinjuku Honkan 1F
3-30-13 Shinjuku
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3354.0101

gasthof melange

From the Kawaguchi-ko station, Gasthof Melange, a bed and breakfast is about 10 minutes away.

While most hotels and pensions (bed & breakfasts) in the area try to entice their customers with views of Mt Fuji and the lake, this pension is located off the main roads, in a quiet neighborhood near the Orgel (music box) museum.

There is a 2-day pass you can buy at the Kawaguchi-ko station for 1000 yen (about US$10) per person for the Fujikyu Retro bus. This entitles you to get on and off two lines around Lake Kawaguchi. It is great transportation.

A word of caution though, don't take a taxi in this area, most are on-call, not roaming around like in the big cities and for some reason, their meters are "faster", you will rack up a major bill just for a short distance.

Gasthof Melange has 7 guest rooms. Their name comes from the German word "gasthof" which means hotel, inn. Melange is the English word taken from French for mixture. This place is halfway between a hotel and inn---in other words, bed and breakfast (B&B) or as the Japanese like to call them, "pension".

The good thing about staying at these B&B are that the meals are homemade and the feeling is homey. Usually these places cost less than staying at a hotel. The bad thing is that the time that meals are served are pre-determined, and they usually have a curfew (when they will lock the front door). If you don't mind a few rules, then you'll enjoy staying at a Japanese B&B.

This B&B is run by a couple who have two dogs, a corgi (Merry) and mini-dachshund (Marron).

Since we stayed at this B&B a week after Golden Week, we actually were the only guests. This was nice, the owner spent a lot of time chatting with us about the area as well as other topics.

About 4 years ago, he started taking photos of Mt Fuji from different areas around Lake Kawaguchi and has them displayed here and there around the B&B.

Dinner was elaborate...Appetizers of roasted tomatoes, mussels & duck. The warm tomatoes were delicious. The mussles and duck were tender and simply prepared.

Penne Arrabiata was cooked al dente with just the right amount of spiciness.

Seared Salmon with a salad had a butter, sesame sauce. There were bones in the salmon so it was a bit hard to eat.

There was also some french bread from a local bakery (which I'll tell you about in the next post) with some olive oil and salt. The bread was delicious, soft on the inside and crisp on the outside.

Steak with roasted potatoes and some cheese. The steak was medium-rare with a some gristle, the sauce that was served with it was delicious, kind of like a berry-wine sauce. The potatoes were roasted tender and the cheese tasted like gouda.

Dessert was an Earl Grey pannacotta, raspberry mousse cake and wasei mikan(tangerine). I was disappointed with the pannacotta as there was no earl grey flavor. The raspberry mousse cake was delicious, a light yellow sponge cake topped with a mousse with just the right amount of tartness from the raspberries. The tangerine was really sweet with no seeds.

Dinner ran a couple of hours and after a very filling dinner, we chatted with the owner for about an hour then got to meet their dog, Marron, who was quite shy. The owner was happy that we didn't mind Marron coming into the dining room and was also happy to be able to chat about photography with Satoshi.

Then Satoshi and I went to the bathing area and relaxed in the l-o-n-g ceramic tiled tub. Since most Japan homes (like ours) have tubs that are just big enough to sit in, it was nice to be able to stretch out in this one.

The next morning, we woke early to see if Mt Fuji was willing to show us her face, but the clouds were too thick and we weren't lucky enough to see Mt Fuji.

So, we went back to sleep until it was time for breakfast. Breakfast was bigger than what we were used to--sausage, mashed potatoes, a salad, scrambled egg, rolls, a little cup of mushroom soup and yogurt with some blueberry jam on it.

As we left, the owner, his wife and their two dogs came to see us off. Marron had warmed up to me and wanted to play catch.

We had a great time and loved the homey feeling that Gasthof Melange had to offer.

Gasthof Melange
2919 Kawaguchi
Minamitsurugun Fujikawaguchikomachi,Yamanashi
Phone: 0555.76.6035

fuji shibazakura matsuri

I saw a photo of this event on the internet last year and told Satoshi about it.

The festival was supposed to run from April 29th until May 31st, but started early due to the warm weather in April. So, they opened the park on April 25th, but with the weird warm/cold days, the flowers have begun to die, so I am not so sure that they will last until the end of the month.

Near Lake Motosu, in Yamanashi prefecture, there is a little park run by the people who run the amusement park (Fujikyu Highland) in the area. From this park you can see Mt Fuji (on a clear day). To decorate the park, they have shibazakura (literally ground cherry or lawn cherry, actually a type of phlox) as ground cover. The photo on their Japanese website is beautiful.

The weather on Friday was overcast and very windy. The temperature was 14C (57.2F) but felt colder with the wind.

By the time we got to the park, Mt Fuji had covered most of itself up with the clouds.

We had a late lunch with some "fast foods" from the booths there.

We shared the Motosu shika (deer) curry (there wasn't much deer/meat in it or much curry), Satoshi was bummed as it cost 800 yen (about US$8). The Fujimiya yakisoba, this was a drier type of fried noodle made with a thicker noodle. At 600 yen (about US$6) we felt this was a good deal because there was quantity.

Still feeling hungry, we also got a bowl of houtou (pronounced hoe-toe), this is a miso soup based broth with flat noodles in it. This also had a lot of veggies in it. For 650 yen (about US$6.50) Satoshi liked this, plus it was a good way to warm up. We also tried the butaman, this was made with Fujizakura pork, it also had water chestnuts & takenoko (bamboo shoots). Satoshi thought this was a rip-off for 350 yen (about US$3.50), but it was larger than the ones they sell at convenience stores and this one was tasty.

Though most of these foods were expensive, it was a great way to try the foods famous for this area.

Fuji Shibazakura Matsuri
check their website for the days of this event (I think it changes from year to year). (In Japanese)

How we got there: we took the highway bus from Shinjuku (in Tokyo) to Kawaguchi-ko (Lake Kawaguchi) 1700 yen (about US$17) per person/one way.
From Kawaguchi-ko station, we took the special shuttle bus to the park, 1800 yen (about US$18) per person, this was a round-trip ticket plus entrance to the park.
Entrance to the park if you do not take this bus, it is 500 yen (about US$5) per person. I heard if you drive your car/rental car, it costs 500 yen (about US$5) just to park there.
The special shuttle bus runs about every 30 minutes but depends on traffic, on weekends it apparently was running once every 2 or 3 hours.

Though we didn't get to see Mt Fuji with a clear blue sky, we were happy that we got to see part of it.