fall colors in kyoto (part 2)

After our Chinese lunch, we caught the train again to a station called Omuro. There is a huge temple called Ninna-ji. This temple used to be the residence for the previous emperor, Uda. And is now the headquarters for the Omuro school of the Shingon sect and Omuro school of flower arrangement (ikebana).

Ninna-ji had a beautiful Zen rock garden area where you could sit and look at the fall colors and just day dream...

From Ninna-ji we were back on the train to the end of the line, Kitahakubaicho. We stayed on the train and rode back to the transfer point, Katabiranotsuji, and then transferred to the Shijo-omiya line. This part of the line actually runs alongside of the road that cars run on!! If you're not careful, you could get hit by a car when getting off the train!

I didn't really care for riding on the Keifuku line, for one thing, the car is very narrow. And with the tourist season being at its peak, being crammed into a narrow car can be a bit tiring and frustrating. Also, a lot of people in Japan have stopped using their mouths, they cannot politely say "I'm getting off" or "Excuse me", they just PUSH their way on or off the trains.

Instead of moving into the back of the train car, they just stand in the doorways...At one stop, we were trying to board the train, an older man was in front of me and he was also trying to board, a young couple from inside the train apparently wanted to get off but of course didn't bother to say so, so the older man continued to squeeze himself onto the train.

As the bell was ringing to board the train, the younger man decided to SHOVE the older man off, who in turn jabbed his elbow into my chest (OW!) The older man shouted at the younger one...and we all ended up feeling frustrated...If only the younger man had said, "I'm getting off", the older man would have waited to board....sigh...

Aside from this bad experience, Satoshi & I had a very nice day....where to go this weekend....hmm

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

fall colors in kyoto (part 1)

Today was a holiday, so we decided to check out some areas in Kyoto. The Hankyu train line had a one day pass to use the Hankyu train lines and the Keifuku lines. For about $13, you can get on and off the Hankyu train lines and also the Keifuku lines as many times as you wish for the whole day. Part of the Hankyu line runs from Kyoto to Umeda. The Keifuku line runs between Arashiyama and Kyoto city.

We got up REALLY early and went to Nagaokakyo. There is a temple called Aokomyoji. We visited this temple a few years ago and the leaves were bright red then. This year it was reddish-brown, pinkish and a bit orange. I made us a breakfast bento, so we enjoyed this while looking at the fall colors.

From Nagaokakyo, we went to Arashiyama. This area is known for its autumn colors, so it is always packed with people! Near the Hankyu Arashiyama station, I read that there was a little cafe called Gateau de Bigaro. It was REALLY little and the seating was outside. We enjoyed our tea break here with cheese cake (fromage) and chocolate truffle cake (namachoco cake) and then were off to Ookochi Sanso.

Gateau de Bigaro
Arashiyama Higashiichikawa-machi 3-19
Closed on Mondays Phone 075-872-3707

Ookochi Sanso is the garden area of the famous actor, Ookochi Denjiro. We also visited here a few years ago, here the colors were very nice, especially when the sunlight hit them! From Ookochi Sanso, we walked through the famous bamboo forest walkway to Tenryuji temple. Last year, I took my aunty and her friends to this temple, but we a bit early for the color change. This time, the Tenryuji temple's pond area was very nice.

After visiting Tenryuji, we caught the Keifuku line (or Randen line, as the locals call it) to Kurumazaki. There is a temple called Kurumazaki temple which has a god that helps people with the arts.

A lot of actors and actresses are said to come to pray for their talent and crafts here. There is an area where the actors and actresses pay for prayers and the temple displays their names on a plaque for 2 years.

A lot of Japanese dancers as well as some actors and actresses' names can be seen here. We were lucky to visit on the day of the Hitakisai. This is a prayer ceremony in which you write down your wish onto a stick. They make a fire using a "kama" (wood burning stove) to call the Gods--Okutsuhikogami & Okutsuhime. At the end of the prayers, they burn the "wish sticks" to ward off evil and to fulfill the prayers.

From Kurumazaki, there is a station called Katabiranotsuji where you can transfer to a line that goes to the Kitanohakubaicho area. (The thing you notice the most about the Randen line is that all the trains kind of go at their own pace.

If they want to pack more people into the train, they wait for another to bring more people.) As we were already packed with sardines, we ended up waiting for another train to pack in more people! While we were waiting to be squished even more, I noticed a sign advertising a Chinese restaurant at the next station, Tokiwa.

I told Satoshi we should get off and have lunch here especially since it was almost 2pm!! We arrived at Tokiwa and we made it just in time for the last order for lunchtime. (whew!) We must have been hungry because we ate REALLY fast. :)

scone (part 2) & kinpira

Today we had sunny skies, so with the cool weather it was very nice and comfortable.

Instead of going somewhere, I decided to try the scone recipe again...This time I put oatmeal, cranberries, orange zest and chocolate chips.

The dough was really stiff, but when it baked it really spread out...I have a feeling it's the amount of butter (I think it may be too much). I'll try to cut it back some more the next time I attempt to try this again. :)

Anyway, the scone was really good with a glass of milk.

I also made some kinpira for our dinner. Kinpira is gobo (burdock root), carrots, konyaku (jelled devil's tongue--made from sweet potato) cooked in dashi (seaweed & bonito stock), shoyu (soy sauce) & mirin (sweet rice wine). I also add a little chili pepper for some kick.

kanazawa & sasebo

Well, we ended up not being able to go to Kyoto this weekend because of maintenance problems with Australian Airlines....Satoshi ended up having to go to work on Sunday. :(

This was our dessert yesterday, Murakami's wagashi (from left in clockwise order: kuri kinton (mashed chestnuts), mushi kuri yokan (steamed jellied bean paste with chestnuts), mame daifuku (black bean rice cake) & kuri daifuku (chestnut rice cake)). The mushi kuri yokan had gold leaf flakes on it!! We cut them all in half so that we could taste each one. :) Murakami is actually a wagashiya (japanese confection shop) in Kanagawa; Ishikawa prefecture, but they have a kiosk in Daimaru Umeda.

For lunch today, there happened to be a Nagasaki food fair at the Hankyu Department store in Kawanishi. Nagasaki is located on the island of Kyushu. (There is a US Naval base there). We decided to try the Sasebo burger from Basestreet. Sasebo burger is the Japanese version of the American hamburger and was supposedly in Japan before McDonald's. Apparently there are two sizes(there is actually one larger than the burger we bought)...on the patty they have a slice of bacon, scrambled egg, onions, and a sauce...kind of messy when you eat it, but it tasted pretty good.

Well, this week we have a holiday, Kinro Kansha no Hi (Labor Thanksgiving Day). This is a holiday in which thanks and appreciation is given to the laborers in Japan. (kind of like America's Labor Day & Thanksgiving put together?) Hopefully, we'll be able to check out Kyoto on this day.

Have a great week.

fall colors, cafe feole

Since Satoshi worked on Saturday & Sunday last weekend, he took Tuesday and Friday off. We didn't do anything on Tuesday because I still had the sniffles, but we decided to check out the fall foliage today.

The first place we visited was Katsuoji Temple. It is about 10 minutes by taxi from the Minoo station.

We were a bit disappointed because the leaves weren't too red. In fact, most of the trees leaves were kind of drying and brown.

We caught the bus from Katsuoji down the other side of the mountain towards an area called Senri.

We decided to check out the Sanshikisaido near the Kita-Senri Station. Here the leaves were light pink, light orange and light green...way nicer than Katsuoji.

After walking the Sanshikisaido, we decided to have lunch in Onohara. There were a couple of cafes that I wanted to check out there, so we decided to have lunch at Cafe Feole. The pasta lunch was very good and it came with a salad. We also added on coffee and dessert. Delicious!

This weekend we're planning to check out the Arashiyama and the Nagaoka areas.

Cafe Feole
2-2-32 OnoharaHigashi
Minoo, Osaka
Phone:072-726-2340
Closed every Wednesday and every 3rd Thursday of the month.

nama choco daifuku

There is a little wagashiya (Japanese confection shop) near us called Korakudo. They make all kinds of mochi (rice cakes). One of my favorites from this shop is the "nama choco (ganache) daifuku (rice cake)". It is a very soft mochi (rice cake) filled with chocolate ganache and covered with cocoa powder. This shop only makes this daifuku during the autumn and winter season (since it is cooler).

Since Satoshi hasn't tried this yet, I decided to get some.

Korakudo
2-12-30 Asahigaoka
Ikeda-city, Osaka
Phone: 072-762-5188

edy, tortillas & saita 2

In Japan, a lot of food items have contests--turn in the bar code to be entered to win a prize, answer a question to win and so on.

In September, I had bought 2 desserts from a convenience store and was eligible to enter their contest. All I had to do was send in my receipt and I had the chance to win an "Edy" card. "Edy" is the latest way to pay for things in Japan.

Some cell phones have this chip installed so that all you need to do is swipe your cell phone over the vending machine and it pays for your juice. A lot of convenience stores also have this system, and recently some train lines also have this system. You can put money into the card and it will subtract from your card to pay for things. Another type of "Edy" card is like a credit card where you pay for things at the end of each month. I was lucky and won one of 6000 cards with 1000yen (about $10) on it!!...what to buy next. :)

If you are like me and like Mexican food, you'll realize that a rare commodity here is tortillas. You can find salsa and avocados, but tortillas...A while back, I had found some in a gourmet supermarket, but after that never saw it again. Recently though, while doing my daily grocery shopping I found some. There were only 5 in a package and it was close to $3!! Still, I bought them and made us some soft tacos for dinner--they were good.

In October, I had bought a "healthy" box lunch which 7-eleven and Saita (a ladies magazine) produced. This past week, they came out with the 2nd version of their "healthy" box lunch. This box lunch has hijiki (seaweed) with komatsuna (a type of chinese cabbage), sweet potato boiled in a lemon sauce, tofu hamburger with minced chicken and tomato sauce, kinpira (burdock root & carrots cooked in sugar and shoyu), broccoli & carrot and 7-grain rice with soy beans and adzuki (red) beans...Yummy!!

Well, after a week of losing my voice, I still have the sniffles, but other than that am feeling much better!! Hope you all have a great week.