Japan Getaway (Day 3)

July 16, 2012

This morning woke up and had a traditional Japanese breakfast. It's very simple looking, but actually a lot of work goes into preparing it. I requested to eat what they usually eat rather than having them go out of the way to make a breakfast that I eat normally, plus I wanted something new, I don't want to eat what I eat every day at home... :P

The soup is a dashi - a type of soup stock that is a basic in many of their soups, and it's very simple looking but takes a lot of time to prepare. Before I had heard of this soup when I looked up Japanese recipes, but it was difficult to understand without having seen how it's done once. A lot of the recipes tell you to boil the Konbu (a type of seaweed), but my friend's mom told me not to let it boil, just simmer in... for close to 45 mins!

So this is how you make very clear and simple dashi - simmer the konbu in water for 45 mins, and then remove the konbu and add in the bonito flakes (these are Japanese fish flakes that are very thin). Turn the fire low so that it is no longer simmering, and leave the bonito flakes for a while (once they have sunk to the bottom) then take them out. Season with a little bit of soy sauce, and in this case add some mushrooms as well. The soup is very light and as you can see it's very clear, so it's almost like drinking water...

The bowl of rice is eaten with the slice of preserved plum. It looks like very little, but the plum is very very sour, so just a little with each bite of rice is good. I think this meal is very simple, but actually it can take a long time to make and as you enjoy each bite slowly, you can really taste it. I think this is something that I need to learn - to eat slowly and enjoy the taste and the hard work that goes into making the meal.

We also had a selection of yogurts and fruit - I feel so healthy those few days because all the food I ate was so fresh and simple....  and to finish off I also had a cup of green tea.

That day after breakfast, we made our way to Mount Asama, a volcano that is about an hour away from Karuizawa (or at least that's what the car ride felt like, didn't feel like we traveled very far). We drove through mountains and valleys.... it was very nice, similar to when you go on a road trip in Canada or the US, and you go through some beautiful forests.

Mount Asama's peak

There are numerous trails that you can take through the volcanic rock park

The weather was SUPER sunny and warm! It was so bright, that it was hard to take good photos because everything was so bright! We also got quite tanned from staying out in the open space on the mountain for 2 hours... Good thing I didn't burn...

Mount Asama is a volcano and although I wanted to go to the crater, we didn't have time so we only go to walk around this volcanic rocks park. It was still very cool because I've never been to a volcano before or seen volcanic rock in their natural environment. All around were also the Northern Japanese Alps.

300 years ago, Mount Asama erupted and the local people thought that it was the devil spewing rocks out so they have lots of devil statues around the area. The rocks are interestingly shaped, with jagged edges and they are very black. The trees still look like they just got burned with a red flesh and appeared like the skin was peeling from burns.

Mount Asama

Another attraction at this volcanic rocks park is that they have this little cave (that's too small to crawl into), but you can see into, and you'll see this moss that glows in the dark....


After we finished our walk around the park, we went down the mountain to a nearby farm where we had fresh milk and ice cream. Love having good milk and dairy products when I travel, because I find it very hard to have that in Hong Kong. The milk and ice cream did not taste too strongly of milk and was very cold and fresh. I had one glass of milk and one ice cream, but I think I could have had another glass of milk (and I don't usually like milk!)... :D

When we left, it was already 2pm and we still hadn't had lunch yet, and we were thinking about what to try, but as we drove back to Karuizawa we thought of trying ramen, however all the restaurants were closed after their lunch hour, and in the end we went to a little ramen shop that is quite popular with younger people. They have a bookshelf lined with manga (comic books). The ramen was good, but I prefer udon or soba as I find that ramen noodles not that yummy, and also the soup tends to be too salty - maybe because I also had the soy sauce base.....

 After this, we went to the supermarket so that I could buy some local products as souvenirs. I picked up some jam, soba tea, seaweed and bonito to make dashi, and some other things. Then we tried to find this rare cheesecake that I had tried on the first night in their home, but it was very difficult to find - definitely rare.... :) In the end we went to Prince Shopping Centre - which is a HUGE outlet mall and after going to many stores we finally found ONE store that had it.... This cheesecake is not like the ones that are baked or refrigerated. This one is more like a yoghurt pudding.... but it still has a light cheesecake flavor.

After I had completed my shopping, we drove to a town about 30 minutes away for Sushi! This is one of the things that I want to eat when I'm in Japan - how can I come to Japan and not have sushi! This restaurant is a favorite of the family whenever they are in Karuizawa, once we stepped into the sushi restaurant, we went straight to the sushi bar - they also have a section that has table and waitress to serve you, like what I am used to normally, but this is the first time that I had sushi at the sushi bar.

Seated at the bar, you can tell that the guest and the sushi chef need to have a good relationship, because most of the time you will talk to your chef as he is making sushi for you. And if he knows you well he will be able to select the types of fish that you may prefer if available that day, or let you try something totally new just because he knows what you like. That night, we were quite early so there were not many guests in the beginning, and our chef could spend time with us. I think in the end we told him to select for us, and I got to try some new things. You can also ask your sushi chef to give you less rice in the sushi - which we did that night, so that you don't become full so fast.

Sardine - usually I don't eat sardine, because I've only had it in the canned tomato sauce and I don't think it tastes nice. But this sardine sushi was good, you can taste the oil and it make the fish very soft.

His skillful hands plus his beautiful sushi knife worked magic, so swift and precise - it was difficult to take photos because he was working so fast and also I didn't want to be intrusive while he's working... but there are still some interesting photos.

When things began to get busy, I was very amused by how they work behind the sushi bar, they were moving around in that small space behind the counter and it was almost like a dance to me....

This order was for other guest seated at served tables.

left: mackerel sushi

right: octopus tentacle sushi - the sucker and the flesh are separate, and it's the first time that we eat the octopus sucker. Also the day before when we had the Takoyaki, you can really taste the octopus bit, whereas when we have it in HK, most of the time the octopus piece is so tiny you don't even know if it's really in there...

mmmm, That sushi dinner was very good. I not only enjoyed the sushi, but also loved the experience of having a sushi chef select the fish for us and then watching him as he made each little sushi for us. Although I was told that the sushi wasn't the best that night as it was a holiday weekend, and the fish was not the most fresh as the fishermen were on holiday too, but it was still good and I'm glad to have tried some new sushi types.

That night, I checked-in to a hotel nearby that my friend's family had arranged for me, they wanted me to try the onsen (hot spring bath). This was an exclusive hotel that is only for members. They have other hotels all over Japan - it's very nice because you can expect the same quality at every hotel, and you can travel all over Japan and have fun visiting the place and then go for a hot spring bath whenever you want.

My hotel room was very spacious, thankfully I was tired from the day, otherwise I think I might not have been able to sleep in a strange place like this ... hehe.... I finished packing my luggage and then took a walk around the hotel and also the outdoor garden in pitch black darkness with little foot lights - it's so dark there I couldn't see my own hands. I was told that there are a lot of stars in Karuizawa, and good thing I remembered to look up at the sky before going back in.... there really is a sky full of stars at night here.