nenshi

Yesterday I talked about nenmatsu, today I'll talk about nenshi, which literally means year start.

Our first day of 2020, we had the osechi that MIL purchased...can you believe this all came in a lacquered-ish cardboard box?!

I love that there were only 3 pieces of each food item in there so that we didn't have to eat the same thing over and over.

We also had ozoni.

Since MIL didn't have shiromiso (white miso), we made ozoni my way...using instant suimono (clear soup) and mochi.
Another thing we had was ume in tea...MIL said she usually purchases the dried ume from Kitano Hachimangu, but since she isn't very mobile these days, she just dropped these pickle ume into our tea...eep!

After breakfast, MIL went to spend the day with BIL and his family, so we were on our own.

We went to have Kansai-style curry udon at Seishuan...sadly, this was way too salty.

After lunch we walked to Imamiya Shrine to do hatsumode (first prayers of the year).

This year is the year of rat/mouse...

And then we walked through Daitokuji.

This area has many temples on its grounds.

One place we went to was Daisenin...which is a zen temple and has many rock gardens.

We weren't allowed to take photos here, so this one is of the many pine trees in front of one of the many temples.

On our way back to MIL's, I noticed a long line at Suzuya which Satoshi says has been around since his college days.

We got their jumbo takoyaki (right) and shigureyaki (which tasted like okonomiyaki and looked like an obanyaki)...all this for 700 yen! what a great buy!

These were delicious and a perfect snack...big pieces of tako (octopus) in each takoyaki.

January 2nd, we said goodbye to MIL and went to Kyoto Station to meet up with Hiromi and her family.

The last time we saw them was during Golden Week.

Lunch was at Lava Rock Grill Terme.

Most of us had grilled fish.

This came with unlimited bread.

It is always nice catching up with them.

Since we were all craving something sweet after lunch, we went to Malebranche and all had various parfaits.

I had this parfait with amao strawberries, a little cake, ice cream and puff pastry...delicious!

We said our goodbyes and caught the Shinkansen...

From Kyoto to Nagoya we rode the Nozomi...and since this day was very busy and there weren't any reasonably priced seats from Nagoya to Shizuoka, we took the Kodama green car.

It was my first time riding in the green car and it was way better than standing all the way in the jiyuseki area(no reservation seat).

From Shizuoka, it was a few stops on the local train to Shimizu...what a beautiful sunset!

After checking in, dinner was at Totosuke...we tried their sakura ebi kakiage.

Lots of sakura ebi in this!

Disappointing was this maguro sashimi...expensive for the amount fish that was given!

We loved this maguro kamaage...deep fried tuna collar.

The outside was crispy while the inside still moist.

Put your gloves on and take the flesh off the bone...the soy sauce based sauce was so delicious too!

A little sweet with some garlic in it...squeeze of lemon to brighten the flavors.

We also ordered some maguro karaage (fried tuna) this was coated with batter then deep fried, this was also served with the same sauce as the kamaage.

The maguro was still moist...delicious!

Anyone need a crab claw pen?!

There were several interesting gacha (vending) machines with interesting seafood themed prizes...

As we walked back to the hotel, we noticed this courtyard area lit up...

Bamboo with holes drilled into it then lighting put into it...pretty!

After a rough night...hearing our neighbors, "ooh" and "aah" (ahem!) AND the fire alarm blasting us awake, it was nice to be greeted by Mount Fuji.

We started out early to catch the first ferry across Suruga Bay.

Luckily, it wasn't packed.

And because the air was crisp, Mount Fuji was easy to see.

We shared this imagawayaki. A pancake type batter filled with sweet bean paste and some walnuts.

223 is the goroawase, a play on the pronunciation of the numbers.

And pronounced fu-ji-san (Mount Fuji).

When we arrived at Toi, we waited for the bus to Shuzenji.

This bus ride was winding, curvy...and because we were already a little seasick...blah!

We then caught the train from Shuzenji to Mishima.

As we approached Mishima we could see Mount Fuji, but there was a lot of clouds...it was nice that we saw Mount Fuji clearly from the ferry.

I saw this advertisement in the train...2 kilos (4.4 pounds) of wasabi...about 18 pieces to make this wafer...I'm pretty sure whoever buys this wasabi monaka will have clear sinuses after eating this...

Lunch was at Musashi, a tiny shop near the station.

Since we didn't really have breakfast and we were feeling much better we had some unagi as this area is known for it.

It was nice to eat something warm.

And then we caught the local train back to Tokyo.

We hope the start to your year was a good one.

Seishuan
Vivre Kitaoji 2F
Kita, Kyoto
Phone: 075.491.0188
Hours and days open when Vivre is

Suzuya
16 Murasakinoshimotoridacho
Kita, Kyoto
Phone: 075.491.0915
Closed Mondays
Hours: Tuesdays-Fridays 12:00-21:00, Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays 12:00-19:30
*cash & take out only

Lava Rock Grill Terme
JR Kyoto Isetan 7F
Phone: 075.606.5454
Hours: 11:00-23:00
Open when JR Kyoto Isetan is

Malebranche (UPDATE: 2023 this location closed)
JR Kyoto Isetan 6F
Phone: 075.343.2727
Hours: 10:00-20:00
Open when JR Kyoto Isetan is

Totosuke
149 Shimazaki-cho, Magurokan 2F
Shimizu, Shizuoka
Phone: 054.368.7364
Hours: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays 11:00-14:30 (lunch), 17:30-19:00 (dinner)
Wednesdays 11:00-14:30 (lunch only)
Saturdays 10:30-20:00
Sundays 10:00-20:00

MyStays Shimizu
1-23 Masago-cho
Shimizu, Shizuoka
Phone: 054.371.9111

Suruga Bay Ferry
ferry route is between Shimizu and Toi

Musashi
12-19 Ichibancho
Mishima, Shizuoka
Phone: 055.971.2909
Closed Mondays
Hours: 11:30-14:30 (lunch), 16:30-21:00 (dinner)

p.s. today is nanakusagayu day but we already had our this past sunday.

p.p.s. if you are interested in seeing more photos and some videos of our travels, click here

nenmatsu

Hope you had a nice holiday season...

I'm going to break our trip into 2 parts starting with nenmatsu which literally means "year end".

On the 28th, Satoshi cleaned the windows and other areas of the apartment while I cleaned the kitchen area.

Lunch was at Ikegami Shokudo...Satoshi has eaten here before.

It was my first time and I was bummed that the oyakodon I ordered had egg shells in it...blah!

AND this place allows smoking...eww!

(UPDATE: 2025 this place is no longer in business)

In the afternoon, Satoshi went to a catch-up German class while I went to buy omiyage to bring with us.

Dinner was at a new (to us) place, Rakyo.

You can either choose these tickets near the door to order teishoku (set meals)...or order a la carte off the menu.

I ordered the takabe (labracoglossa argenteiventris also known as yellow striped butterfish) karaage (fried) with black vinegar sauce set, while Satoshi ordered the sashimi set.

I ordered the ume liquor diluted with hot water...the amuse bouche (the stuff you don't order but need to pay for) was a dish of fresh seaweed with grated ginger and ponzu (citrus soy).

The wait staff also gave us some edamame (soy beans) because we had to wait to be seated.

Look at how much food each set has!

This is Satoshi's and pretty generous for 1100 yen (about $11)...besides his sashimi he also had a piece of fried fish and other small dishes.

Here's my fried takabe...1000 yen (about $10)

I also enjoyed the zuke style fish that was soaked in some shoyu based sauce.

Everything was delicious and we want to go back to try other items from their menu.

On the 29th, we left kind of early and took the train to Shimizu.

This is the hometown of Sakura Momoko, a manga artist.

Unfortunately, she passed away in 2018.

From the JR Shimizu Station, we were able to see Mount Fuji.

Shimizu is famous for soccer and its players, so this area had lots of soccer decor.

At Nihondaira, which we visited before, we went on the ropeway to check out Kunozan Toshogu.

There are many Toshogu shrines around Japan.

The most famous might be the one in Nikko, but this one is the oldest.

The last time we were at Nihondaira was in 2016.

Since then, they built this walkway called Yume Terrace, which looks out at Suruga Bay (and Mount Fuji).

The day we were here the terrace was closed for the year...boo!

We had some Shizuoka Tea Soft Serve...even though it was fahreezing!

And then we caught the bus to Shizuoka city.

Dinner was at Umibozu...where we tried Shizuoka Oden...which is a dark soy sauce based version.

We also tried some Fujinomiya Yakisoba...I liked this version because the noodles were on the dry side.

Look at the big pot of oden that they have!

On the 30th we were up early to make our way to Kyoto.

There was a really sad, free breakfast in the cafeteria of the hotel.

It was gross because they dumped all the weiners into the ketchup...oh well, it was free, right?!...

I came upon some fantastic Shizuoka katsuo chip snacks...if you've eaten beef chips in Hawaii, this is the fish version...so good!

We bought some musubi from En for the train ride, takuan okaka (katsuo flakes) and mehari (musubi wrapped with mustard cabbage leaves).

And when we arrived in Kyoto, we stopped into Kamo Donuts to pick up some dessert.

This is Satoshi's obake (monster) donut...

Dinner was a hodgepodge of things while we caught up with MIL.

And on the 31st, we helped MIL with some cleaning and dinner was toshikoshi soba with some tempura bought at the market.

I'll continue with the rest of our travels tomorrow.

Rakyo
3-40-25 Ikegami
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6410.5254
Hours: 11:00-14:30 (lunch). 17:00-22:30 (Sundays-Thursdays dinner), until 23:00 (Fridays & Saturdays)

Umibozu
6-11 Minami-cho
Suruga, Shizuoka
Phone: 054.284.8282
Hours: 15:00-23:30

Orange Hotel
1-6-4 Inagawa
Suruga, Shizuoka
Phone: 054.283.5100

En
47 Kuroganecho, ASTY Shizuoka 1F
Aoi, Shizuoka
Phone: 054.266.4096
Hours: 7:30-22:00