Seaside is located at the North of Oregon coast. It is about 1.5 hours away from Portland. It is relatively easy to get to Seaside by just taking Sunset Highway 26 all the way to the coast. Seaside is known to be a popular place for surfing in Oregon. Many Oregon surfers come to Seaside coast to enjoy the surf during a good weather weekend. The wave can usually get pretty big here.
During the rare dry weather on a Oregon winter weekend, we decided to go to Seaside to do a little getaway. We drove to Seaside and went to the Southern part of the city where most of the surfers are. Our original plan was to do the Tillamook Head hike, but the temperature was quite low, so we decided just to sit around an enjoy the view.
We parked our car at Ocean Vista and we saw many surfers fully dressed up with wet suit in the ocean. The ocean water temperature is very low along the Oregon coast, so it is quite important to wear wet suit when surfing here at Seaside. There were also many homes here just along the coast and many of the surfers do spend their weekend here so that they can surf whenever they want.
Unlike Canon Beach, there isn't any sand along this coast. The coast is full of rocks, and thus it is not a popular place for most people who want to come to the coast.
While we are at Seaside, the main mission today was actually do collect the limited Magical Oregon posters. These posters are limited editions and can only be acquired at specific visitor centers across Oregon. So we came to Seaside to get the magical coast poster. This is our first poster among the collection and we plan to collect them all. The hardest one would be getting the Crater Lake poster since it can only be acquired at Klamath Falls and it is all the way down at Souther Oregon border.
Since our mind was completely occupied by getting all the magical Oregon posters, Seaside does have a small downtown area and an aquarium. We would probably visit it next time after we have collected all the posters!
La Rambla is known to be one of the best restaurant at the historic downtown of McMinnville. The restaurant is located near the West end of the 3rd Street. It offers variety of Spanish food, and it is quite different from the usual Mexican food that we have had. This restaurant was highly recommended to us by the inn keeper, and thus we decided to give it a try.
We drove to the historic downtown of McMinnville and parked the car at the parking structure on 5th Street. We walked to the restaurant and had a look at the menu on the door. While we were checking out the menu, a lady customer pushed the door open and told us we must try this place and the food is simply amazing. This has assured us that we need to give this a try.
We sat down at the table and looked at the menu again more carefully. We were a bit confused on what is being listed on the menu. It is very different from the type of menu that we have seen at a Mexican restaurant. It is a Spanish restaurant after all. It took us a while to decided what to order, and we decided to order 3 tapas dish. We ordered Empanadas, stuffed Piquillo Peppers, and Chili Shrimp.
Empanadas dish came quite fast. It is served with 3 pieces, that look like fried dumplings. It is stuffed with braised beef and other type of vegetables. There were also honey drizzled on top of it. The Piquillo Peppers are large red peppers stuffed with rice, chicken, and other vegetables. There were also sauces drizzled on top of it but we could not figure out what kind of sauce it is. The Chili Shrimp came with 4 pieces, with 2 pieces pair tangled together. The shrimp is quite tender and the chili spice is quite hot. Even after 5 minutes, we could still feel the hot spice burning on our tongues.
In general, this is quite an unique experience to us since we have never really had authentic Spanish food. It looked like the dishes that we ordered were just appetizers. We would say that this is an unique experience. One of the down side here is that the food here is quite expensive. Each tapas that we ordered was at least $13 per dish.
Youngberg Hill Inn is located near McMinnville in Oregon. As the its name suggests, it is located at the top of Youngberg Hill, at the end of the Youngberg Hill Road. The inn also has a large event venue for holding large events such as company retreats and weddings. The inn also includes huge vineyards at the top of the hill. Thus Youngberg Hill Inn also brews its own wine and offer tasting events. The inn is quite close to Portland, and only about an hour of drive.
We were looking for a place to stay and relax during the weekend before Thanksgiving and decided to visit Youngberg Hill. We left right after work on Friday and headed there. We were quite excited because we have never stayed at a Bed and Breakfast Inn with vineyards and really looked forward to this trip. When we got there, we were surprised to see the amount of cars there due the an event being hosted there that evening.
The check in time at the Inn is before 6PM and we got there at 7PM. The keys were left in the box beside the door for us by the inn keeper. So it was quite easy for us to get to the room. After we relax in the room, we realized that we and the other couple were the only 4 people occupying the inn.
We woke up very early next day morning before the sunrise. We first wanted to do star gazing and also wanted to make sure we catch the sunrise on the top of the hill. The sky was incredibly clear to see all the stars in the sky. We could see the city light of McMinnville on the far East side. Unfortunately, the milky way was on the other side of the hill and we could not see it.
The morning on the top of the hill was quite cold however. We would recommend people to wear thicker jacket and wear gloves, especially during the winter time.
The breakfast is offered at 9AM in the morning. We were served with different type of breakfast everyday and it was amazing. While having breakfast, we could see number of tables being occupied to check number of people staying at the inn.
After the breakfast, we walked around the area and found the swing near the end of the gravel parking lot. The swing is attached to the branch of the huge tree and the swing is facing the vineyard. It is one of the most popular place for photography, especially for wedding photography.
The owner also owns 2 lovely dogs. The 2 dogs would be at the lawn enjoying the heat from the sun. These 2 dogs were so lovely and well trained. When we pet him, the dog would sit down and enjoy people pet him. They were just so cute and lovely.
Overall, Youngberg Hill Inn is definitely one of the most amazing place to do a weekend gateway from Portland. One could simply sit at the balcony for the whole day to read a book and enjoy a glass of wine. We highly recommend this place. The inn also has 2 nights for 1 night price special offer between January and March, which is an amazing offer!
Clear Lake is located in Mount Hood National Forest and it is just about 60 miles East of Portland. Clear Lake itself is one of the largest lake in Mount Hood National Forest and people often bring their boat here to enjoy the day. There are also several camp grounds around the lake for spending over the night. Clear Lake is also very accessible. It is pretty much just off Highway 26 and the day use area is directly at the shore of the lake.
My friends and I decided to go to Clear Lake during this clear sky Saturday night to do some stargazing. We left Portland around 7PM and headed towards Mount Hood. The drive at night in the mountain was not as bad as we thought and there were very little car on the road. We had high beam on most of the time to keep our eyes open. We got to Clear Lake around 9PM and it was so quiet at the lake. We got out of the car and it was pitch dark. Luckily we were prepared with flash light and lantern to check the surroundings. Other than hearing cars running through the highway, we could sometimes hear the sound from ducks.
We walked toward the lake and was able to see the milky way in the sky. It was just amazing. There were just so many stars in the sky and it was unbelievable. We enjoyed taking as many photos as possible and also tried to shine flash light into the sky and form a light beam.
While we were there, there were also cars driving by but they did not stop for some reason. They came and stopped for few seconds, then made a u-turn and went back. We felt a bit odd and thought maybe they just wanted to find a quiet place just for themselves. There was also an RV driving by and headed to the campground. We spent around 30 minutes at the lake and headed back home afterwards.
Overall, it was an amazing place to do stargazing and to watch meteor shower since Clear Lake is very accessible. We were also surprised that there wasn't any mosquitos flying around. We recommend to bring warm clothes since it is always much colder in the mountain especially during the night time. Also, flash light is definitely necessary since it can light up objects much further than what a cell phone can do.
Timothy Lake is one of the largest lake within the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon. The Lake is located about 60 miles East from Portland and take about 1.5 hours to get there. Timothy Lake also offers a lot of camp ground sites for recreational purpose and also allows motorized boat to be used on the lake. It is one of the most popular camping site within Mount Hood National Forest.
On the last weekend of September, right before the start of the raining season in Oregon, we decided to head to Timothy Lake to enjoy the last hike of the year. We left early around 7AM in the morning and instead of heading directly to Timothy Lake, we headed to Little Crater Lake instead since it is very close to Timothy Lake hiking trail.
The Timothy Lake hiking trail is around 13 miles around the lake. We started our hike around 9:30 in the morning and hiked along the East shore first. For the first 3 miles, we did not run into anyone and it was so quiet in the forest. As we approach towards the camp site, we started to run into people who are jogging and fishing on the lake. Since it was almost autumn season, many tree leaves started to turn red and yellow color. It was just amazing scenery.
As we approach the half way point of the hiking trail, we reached the dam at the South end of the lake. The dam is operated by PGE and we could see it draining the water to generate electricity. We also read a post on the sign saying the Oregon government is try to evaluate the ecosystem of the lake and have place many trouts with RFID tag on them. Whoever catches those trout can respond to survey on the web and could possibly earn $50 per trout! No wonder there were so many people fishing here!
While we hiked along the Northwest shore of the lake, we started to see more color changes of the tree leave. It was amazing. We loved the color of the maple trees that are grown between the evergreen trees.
We finally completed the hike around 4PM in the afternoon. Since we did take our time enjoying our lunch and took our time to take pictures, the whole hike took about 5.5 hours. Other than being a long distance hike, the trail is pretty easy with pretty much no elevation at all. We highly recommend visiting Timothy Lake and enjoy the time hiking on the beautiful trail!
Spork is a fusion restaurant located in Bend, Oregon. It is along the street where many brunch places are at. Spork offers variety of types of food including Thai, Mexican, Chinese, and American. On many of the restaurant review sites, it is ranked as the number 2 restaurant to go to in Bend. Since Spork is so highly rated in many review sites, we decided to give it a try when visiting Bend.
We got to Spork around 12PM and parked our car along one of the side street in the neighborhood. The restaurant was not very obvious to find. We actually drove by it and had to walk back. The Spork sign is on its door and the restaurant offers both outside seating area and indoor seating area. It also has a logo that says "fire" in Chinese Like many Oregon restaurants, customers order the food first at the cashier and then find the table to sit down. We were given a stick with a picture on it after we placed our order and the server delivered the food to us.
We ordered a Pozole Rojo Mexican dish and a Dan Dan noodle Chinese dish. The Pozole Rojo dish was a bit small and did not come with many chips. The taste of Pozole Rojo was not as good as what we had in Portland either. The chicken could have been more tender as well. The Dan Dan noodle is mixed with a lot of green onions, peanuts, and minced pork. When we say a lot, we actually meant A LOT! The entire bowl of noodle is covered under green onions. The noodle is actually made out of rice, which is a bit different. The minced pork however is a bit tough to chew on. The restaurant itself is pretty much a self-serve restaurant. We get our own water and also place the food plate back into the disposal bins.
In addition, there are 3 washrooms at the restaurant and they are all on different side of the wall. So if you are waiting on a washroom, it would be wise to go around and check to see if the other 2 washrooms are available or not.
Overall, we were quite disappointed at the food that Spork offers. We had high expectation from Spork since it was rated as the second must visit restaurant in Bend and it turned out to be disappointing. We may give this place another try next time when we have a chance, but may try other brunch places first.
Other than the famous Crater Lake in Oregon, there is also Little Crater Lake at the Northern side of Oregon. Little Crater Lake is not as well known to people, and not even that well known to local Oregonians. Little Crater Lake is located in Mount Hood Forest National Park, about 2 hours away from Portland. Unlike Crater Lake, Little Crater Lake is not formed by volcanic eruption, it is formed from the collapsed ground from underground water. This creates a deep vertical drop and formed a lake when the water poured in.
During the weekend, we originally wanted to visit Clear Lake, but the water was mostly dried out at Clear Lake, thus we decided to visit Little Crater Lake. The drive to Little Crater Lake was relatively smooth, it was all on paved road with few bumps here and there. The day use area is right beside the camp ground and there were limited parking spaces. We parked our car and headed to the trail to get to Little Crater Lake that is just 250 yards out.
We got to Little Crater Lake and we were stunned by how clear the water is. We could see all the way through to the bottom of the lake. The water was just so clear. The water was also very calm and reflects the sky and trees onto the surface of the lake. It was simply amazing. We went around the shore and got a feel of the water and it was freezing cold. It was said to be 34 degree Fahrenheit, which is essentially at freezing point. there are also signs indicating no swimming is allowed.
At this time, a black Labrador showed up. He was so friendly and cute. The black Labrador walked around the lake, dipped his front paws into the lake and looked around. We bet he was feeling a bit cold. Then he moved further in and got his whole body soaked in the water, but he got out immediately. We were guessing the water temperature was still too cold for him.
Little Crater Lake is a nice place to visit, even for elderly people since the trail is well maintained and very close to the parking lot. The drive to there is also very convenient with well marked signs. If you would like to have a longer hike, the trail does go all the way to Timothy Lake and crosses with Pacific Crest Trail.
Smith Rock is one of the Oregon Seven Wonders. Smith Rock is located in central Oregon, about 30 minutes North East of Bend. It is one of the most popular tourist destination for people visiting Oregon. Smith Rock is known as a volcanic rock and also a popular location for rock climbing enthusiasts. There are also several hiking trails in Smith Rock State Park and most of the trails are quite easy with very little elevation gain.
We got to Smith Rock State Park at around 8:30AM in the morning to avoid the crowd. The parking space at Smith Rock State Park is very limited, so it is better to go there early than late. The unfortunate part is that Northwest Pass cannot be used here. We had to spend $5 to purchase a day pass. The ticketing machine is on the right side of the information center.
Smith Rock looked beautiful at early morning with the sun light shine on the side of the beautiful rock. We walked down the ridge to the bottom along the river and went across the bridge. There are few trails after crossing the bridge. The most difficult trail here is the Misery Trail that heads right up the ridge of Smith Rock. We chose to hike the Misery Trail since it is more interesting. The Misery Trail has a lot of elevation gain along the 1 mile trail. We got up to the ridge within an hour and the view from the top is beautiful. We could see the farm land on the far side and the Cascade Mountains as well.
We headed down the Misery Trail and decided to take the Summit Trail to have more fun. The Summit Trail has less people there, and it is very easy to hike. We enjoyed the scenery along the trail. After reaching the summit, we headed back down the trail and went back to the bridge by taking the Riverside Trail. The Riverside Trail is quite crowded with the rock climbing people and people with kids. The hardest part is the part heading back to the parking lot. This is a lot of elevation gain and we had to take a rest at the half way point.
Smith Rock is quite an amazing place to visit and definitely did not disappoint for being one of the Seven Wonder. We highly recommend to visit Smith Rock while visiting Bend since it is so close by. Just keep in mind to go there early to avoid the crowd and get a good parking spot.
Sparks Lake is one of the largest lake along Cascade Highway. It is located South of South Sister Mountain and right beside Devils Lake. To get to Sparks Lake, it is about 40 minutes away from Bend and is very accessible. Sparks Lake is also one of the lake that offers great trail for paddling. Many people come here paddling around the lake for the whole day.
We left bend and headed to Sparks Lake around 5PM in the afternoon. The reason that we headed there late in the afternoon was because we wanted to stay till sunset and gaze the stars. We got to Sparks Lake around 6PM and the beautiful sun lights shined on South Sister Mountain and Broken Top Mountain. The reflection of the mountains were beautiful on the lake.
When we go there, most people were already packing and leaving. The water level of the lake was lower than early summer. Since the water level is low, we were able to walk around the shore of the lake and go very far along the lake shore by stepping on the lava rocks. However, some lava rocks were lose, so extra attention is required when stepping on the lava rocks.
The sun set was at around 7:40PM and we started to see the twilight among the sky. It was just beautiful. At this time, more people start to come and setting up tables and chairs along the lake. Some people even brought electricity generator. We sat along the lake for about 1 and half hour and the stars start to appear in the sky. The Milky Way started to show up right above us. The star reflecting on the surface of the lake was just amazing. We were able to see the polar star and the Big Dipper.
Overall, this was a lovely experience. It was our first time staying late in the wild. Sparks Lake is a perfect place for stargazing since the lake is right beside the parking lot and we did not have to hike to the lake. We would definitely go back to Sparks Lake again and enjoy the night there.
Japan is one of the advanced country in Eastern Asia. Kingdom of Japan is located at Northeast of Asia and it is an island nation. Japan has 4 main islands and thousands of smaller islands that goes from North of Hokkaido all the way to the South of Okinawa. Japan has been known for many of its advanced electronic brands such as Sony, Panasonic, Canon, and many others. Japan's car companies are also the most popular car brand in the world. It is fortunate that there is a direct flight from Portland to Japan, operated by Delta Airline. Thus we decided to go on a one week vacation in Japan.
The Delta flight leaves around 12:30PM from Portland and arrives at Japan Narita airport around 2:30PM in the afternoon. We were very satisfied with Delta Airline's service. We were served with Ben & Jerry ice cream! It was our first time having ice cream on the airplane.
Once we got off the plane, we first rushed to the travel agency at Narita Airport Terminal 1 to get our JR Rail Pass exchanged. JR Rail Pass is for foreigners only and it offers amazing discount to use all JR owned railways. While we were there exchanging the JR Rail Pass, we also booked the Narita Express train to Shinagawa, and then take the Shinkensen to Kyoto.
On day 1 when we arrived in Japan, we immediately took Shinkensen to Kyoto. The ride was about 2.5 hours from Shinagawa to Kyoto station, but we enjoyed the ride a lot because it has a lot of leg rooms. The only thing we forgot was to purchase bento box and enjoy the food. Once we got to Kyoto, we grabbed some bento box at Kyoto station and immediately checked in to Hotel Granvia Kyoto, which is right beside Kyoto station. There are so many people at Kyoto station and it was crazy!
On day 2, we woke up very early at 5AM and went to Arashiyama. It was quite easy to get to Arashiyama from Kyoto station by taking JR train. We got to Arashiyama at around 7AM and there was not many people there. For lunch, we went to Taisho Hanana to try its famous bream fish sashimi. After lunch, we went to Ranzan Sakuramochi for crashed ice dessert. We then took Kyoto city bus to Kinkaku-Ji to check out the famous golden temple. Afterwards, we went to the famous and oldest temple in Japan, Kiyomizu-Dera, to look around and shop around the area. At night, we got some buns and went back to hotel to enjoy dinner.
On day 3, we woke up even earlier at 4AM because we have a long day ahead of us. We first went to Fushmi Inari Taisha to check out its hundreds of Toshiis lined up together. Then we went back to Kyoto station to take Shinkensen to Himeji to visit Himeji Castle and Koko-En Garden. It is around 1 hour of train ride. After that, we took Shinkensen again to go to Shin-Osaka station and visit the famous Osaka market at Dotonbori to try its famous Takoyaki at Juhachiban Takoyaki.
On day 4, we left Kyoto and headed to Hakone. We first took Shinkensen to Odawara station, then take Hakone Tozan train to Kowakudani and checked in to Manatei Hotel. Since our room was not ready yet, we took Hakone Tozan ropeway to visit Owakudani and checked out its black hot spring egg. We then went down to visit Lake Ashi and took the pirate ship cruise to the South side of the lake to check out Hakone Shrine. At night, we had dinner at Hayakawa, which is included as part of the stay at Manatei Hotel.
On day 5, we went to Hakone Yumoto by taking Hakone Tozan train. We visited Gyokuren Shrine and made our prayers there. Then went to Yama Soba for lunch to try out its amazing cold noodle soba. Later we then went to Gore Park, which is a less popular place for tourist.
On day 6, we took Shinkensen to Tokyo station. We got to Tokyo around noon and went to Meiji Jingu. Then we went to Sakuratei to try making Okonomiyaki ourselves. After having a great lunch, we went to Nishimura Fruit & Parlour for an amazing luxurious dessert. Then we checked out Shibuya and tried the UFO machine, but unfortunately did not get anything.
On day 7, we took Shinkensen to Utsunomiya and then take the train to Nikko. At Nikko, got to try out Kimono and visited the famous temples. We also tried Gelato Rusk ice cream. In the afternoon, we went back to Tokyo and went to Sushizanmai for dinner. Its tuna sushi was the best sushi we have ever had.
On day 8, wen visited Senso-Ji and shop around Asakusa. At lunch time, we went to Ichiran Ramen. We have wanted to try it out for so long and finally had the chance to do it. In the afternoon, went to shopping at Shinjuku. At night, we went to Akibahara to play the UFO machine again and caught 3 prizes! We were very lucky that night.
On day 9 and it is the last day, we headed to Narita Airport and get ready to head back to Portland. The schedule of this Japan vacation was quite tight, but we enjoyed it a lot. We have visited a lot more places than we wanted to. After visiting Japan, we were most impressed by Japan's railway network. It is so convenient and we did not have to take bus at all. If we had the chance, we would visit Japan again and try to catch more price with the UFO machine!
Ichiran Ramen is a popular ramen franchise in Japan. It has also opened many franchise stores in other countries as well. It is known for serving amazing ramen with a single soup base and you can adjust ramen's flavor however you like.
Since it is so popular, we decided to give it a visit while we were in Japan. The Ichiran restaurant that we visited is at Asakusa. We got to the door of the restaurant around 10AM in the morning and it appeared that the restaurant is located in the basement. We were not sure whether the restaurant is open or not. We walked down stairs and pressed the button to open the automatic door and found that there were already many people in there. We were greet with a sweet smile from the server and she told us to buy food ticket from the vending machine.
The vending machine has all the menu items that Ichiran offers. All customers need to purchase the food ticket from the vending machine first and then give the food ticket to the server after filling out the form that indicates what kind of flavor that you want. We got our food ticket, and filled out the form to specify spiciness, saltiness, and noodle thickness.
The ramen was served quite quickly. We were guessing that they always had the noodle and soup ready, and just had to put them together in the bowl. The soup seems to be a pork bone flavored soup. The thickness of the noodle is about right. Not too thin and not too thick. On top of the noodle, green onions are spread on top of it, which is nice. The pork meat is good. It did not have too much fat on it. One thing that was interesting is the egg. When the egg is given to us, it was still in the shell. We needed to peel off the shell ourselves and then put it in the ramen soup.
We finished the ramen rather quickly and really enjoyed it. Before we leave, the server asked us whether we are interested to purchase the ramen and cook it ourselves at home. Apparently the restaurant also sell its ramen in the restaurant. So we could try to make Ichiran ramen in US if we purchase the ramen set.
Senso-Ji is located at Asakusa, Tokyo in Japan. It is one of the most popular tourist attraction in Tokyo if not the most popular. It attracts millions of customers everyday to visit this place. Getting to Senso-Ji is very easy. It is right outside of Asakusa train station. Simply follow the sign on the wall and you will get to Senso-Ji.
We got to Senso-Ji by 8AM in the morning and there were already huge crowd of people there. This shows how crazy this place gets. Before reaching the temple, there are many small shops along the walk way selling souvenirs and snacks. At 8AM in the morning, most shops have not opened yet and the shops only open at 9AM. Thus we decided to visit the temple first.
Senso-Ji is known with the template gate that says "thunder gate" on the lantern. Good luck taking a photo with it because there were just so many people trying to take a picture with it. It was just insane. We gave up taking a photo with it and walked right towards the main temple. The main temple is quite large and it actually felt cool in the main temple. Keep in mind that there is a sign that says no photos allowed in the main temple. We then visited the surrounding areas of Senso-Ji. There were Buddha statues and smaller temples on the side. We also saw man made waterfalls in the garden. We could also see Tokyo Sky Tree from here.
The Omamori sold here does not look that good compared to Meiji Jingu. So we do not recommend getting the ones here. Meiji Jingu has better ones with more variety.
After visiting Senso-Ji, we then went shop around in the area within Asakusa, There are many shopping streets in the surrounding area and most of them are covered with plastic ceiling. There are many tax free shops targeted for tourists such as make ups, drugs, and snacks.
In general, we are not quite sure why Senso-Ji is a must visit place. The temple itself is not very big. We basically walked in and walked out. The shopping area around it is nice, but there are many other similar areas within Tokyo. So we recommend not to spend too much time here since there isn't much things to do here.
Sushizanmai is a chain franchise Sushi restaurant in Japan, and it is perhaps the largest Sushi chain restaurant in Japan. If you watch TV in Japan, you will often see Sushizanmai's TV commercials. It is one of the most successful Sushi restaurant. All of Sushizanmai's restaurant are open 24 hours as well, so you could enjoy sushi 3AM in the morning. People may think Sushizanmai only offers cheap quality sushi, but it is not the case. Sushizanmai's sushi has high quality and the service is said to be incredible.
Since we were visiting Japan, Sushizanmai is a must try place for us. There are many Sushizanmai restaurants in Tokyo, so we went to the Sushizanmai restaurant located at Ueno since we were just there. We got there at around 5PM, just a bit before the dinner time. There were already so many people there and the restaurant was nearly full. The waiter did not speak perfect English, but we were able to communicate and order what we wanted. We ordered a Tuna set, an Eel Roll, and Salmon Sushi.
Our food was served rather quickly. When the food is ready from the kitchen or from the Sushi chef, they would yell it out. So the restaurant is considered to be noisy since there could be many people yelling at the same time.
The salmon sushi was not up to par to us. We have had better salmon sushi in North America. This may due to the fact that salmon is not popular in Japan and they may be using different type of salmon. The salmon sushi served here also has skin attached to it, so we did not like it much. The eel roll was ok, but we were used to having Unagi instead of Anago. We preferred to have Unagi, which is sea eel with less bones.
The best thing here is the tuna set. It was so amazing. Tuna set came with 2 pieces of fatty tuna sushi, 2 pieces of medium fatty tuna sushi, 2 pieces of regular tuna sushi, 3 pieces of tuna roll, 2 pieces of tuna onion sushi, and 2 pieces of seared tuna sushi. The fatty tuna sushi is so amazing. The tuna meat simply melted in our mouth without taking a bite at it. Even for the regular tuna sushi without much fat, the tuna meat still simply melts in our mouth. It was just so fresh. The seared tuna sushi was so good too. It was seared perfect with some smoky taste and with some saltiness.
Overall, we liked the place a lot. We would just go again and do the tuna set again. It was unfortunate that we did not get to try the corn tempura. It was one of the recommended dish from the restaurant. We would definitely try that next time,
Nishimura Fruit & Parlour is an amazing fruit dessert shop located in Japan. Its fruit dessert is considered to be luxurious and expensive. Although its desserts are pricy, many people especially girls still love to go there due to its amazingly made fruit dessert.
Since we were visiting Japan during the hot summer day, this dessert shop is something that we simply could not miss. There are multiple Nishimura Fruit & Parlour locations in Japan. The one we went to is located at Shibuya. The shop is right outside of the Shibuya JR train station. From the Shibuya cross walk, we could see the Nishimura Fruit & Parlour sign located at the top of the building.
The restaurant is located on the second floor. The first floor was already selling deliciously looking fruits such as apple, peach, grape, and watermelon. We noticed that the fruits do seem very pricy in Japan. One apple cost $6 US dollar even though it is big and round.
As we walked up stairs, the interior design of the restaurant is magnificent and luxurious. Everything has a golden trim. We sat down at a table right away and decided to get the seasonal limited special of grape dessert and peach dessert. The grape dessert is served with green colored grapes and sliced in different shape to be placed on top of the glass. The grape was sweet and tender. Under the grape, there were frozen yogurt and jellies to make it cooler. The peach dish had the peach sliced and placed at the top of the glass like a ball. The peach flesh is white and quite sweet. There were also frozen yogurt and jellies placed at the bottom of the glass.
Overall, Nishimura Fruits & Parlour did not disappoint and it served the best fruit dessert we have ever had. We could not forget the taste of the dessert and wish we could go back there again and try all other desserts. The only other thing is that it was pricy. With the 2 dessert we ordered, it cost around 5100 Japanese Yen. So we would say it is quite expensive, but it was definitely worth it!
Gelato & Rusk is an ice cream shop located at Nikko, Japan. The store is located close to the Shinkyo bridge in Nikko. Other than just selling Gelato ice cream, it also sells cookie biscuit rusk with many different flavors. The store itself isn't very big with limited seats. There is only a very very tiny bar table at the back of the store that can barely sit 4 people even though there are 4 stools. Most people just buy and go.
When we got there, it was around 12PM and there was no one. It was very deserted and there was only 1 person working at the store. We selected the two item special that the store is currently promoting. It costs 500 Japanese Yen and we can select 2 different Gelato ice cream flavors and a rusk to go with it. We looked around and decided to try the charcoal and coffee mocha flavor for ice cream, and sesame flavor for the rusk. We think it is a good deal and the price is cheap.
The ice cream came in a cup with a chocolate monkey stick in between. Not quite sure why the monkey has its eyes covered by its hands. The coffee mocha flavor is not special, just like a mocha flavored ice cream. The charcoal flavored ice cream is quite unique. We could not tell what it is made out of. It did look pitch black and its flavor taste like sesame ice cream to us. The rusk biscuit is very crunchy and sweet. We really liked it. We have also tried the sample of other flavor of rusk such as green tea and strawberry, the black rusk tastes the best.
The shop did not seem to have many customers. After we left the shop, the store employee stepped out onto the street and started giving out samples to attract more customers. It looked as if they got nothing better to do and need to get more customers.
Overall, the charcoal flavored ice cream is unique and the black rusk is tasty, but other than that, the other ice cream flavors are not that special.
Nikko is a small town located Northwest of Tokyo. It is a popular tourist attraction with Shinkyo bridge and famous temples. Edo Wonderland is also located by Nikko. To get to Nikko, you can take Shinkensen from Tokyo stations to Utsunomiya Station. It takes about 50 minutes. Then take Nikko Line to Nikko station and it takes about 50 minutes. The train on Nikko line leaves around every 30 minutes.
From Nikko station to Shinkyo bridge, it takes about 15 minutes of walking time up hill. Another option is to take bus directly from Nikko station to Shinkyo bridge. We recommend to walk to Shinkyo bridge since there are many interesting shops along the street.
As we walked up the street, we visited Utakata Kimono shop. This is a Kimono rental shop with a large selection of Kimono and Yukata for tourist to wear for the day. We also went in there to pick Kimono and Yukata to wear. Other than providing Kimono rental, Utakata Kimono shop also provide hair styling service for 1500 Japanese Yen. They can do a hair put up style, cute style, or traditional Japanese woman style. We also requested for professional photo shoot at Shinkyo bridge, and the photos look amazing! The photographer was very professional! Originally, we were only supposed to get 12 photos, but they really liked us and gave us like 60 photos. Communication was not much of a problem since they knew some English. We also used Google translate to communicate between English and Japanese for some complicated discussion.
After crossing the bridge, we went up the hill to visit the temples on the top of the hill. The temples here are quite amazing and were built long ago. There were also many stone lanterns places in a row on the side of the street. The only thing that we did not like was that it costs 1000 Japanese Yen to enter the temple. The temple is not even that big and we felt that 1000 Japanese Yen was a bit too much.
Overall, we enjoyed visiting Nikko. It is quite different from many other tourist place in Japan. This place is less crowded and still had quite a lot of interesting things to see. The most satisfying thing was having a chance to try out the Kimono and take some good photos with it. We really loved the photo.
Sakuratei is a restaurant located at Shibuya district of Tokyo in Japan. It is a famous restaurant known for letting its customers to make their own Okonomiyaki at the table. The restaurant offers variety of Okonomiyaki and Monjayaki. It even has the all you can eat option for a very cheap price of 1500 Japanese Yen. The interior decoration of Sakuratei is quite unique as well. It has various spray painted art works on its walls. At the outside of the restaurant, it also has both sides of the wall spray painted and there are lights at the bottom lighting up the wall at night, which is quite a spectacular view. Although making of the Okonomiyaki require a big table, the restaurant is quite large to accommodate like 40 tables.
We got to Sakuratei at around 2PM, so it has already passed its lunch busy hour. However, when we got to Sakuratei, the restaurant was still half full. The server took us to our table to sat down and we got really excited to make our own Okonomiyaki. We ordered the signature one, and another signature Okonomiyaki with noodle. We were worried that we would not be able to cook this, the server actually gave us a cooking manual that provides step by step instruction for making Okonomiyaki.
So, once we got the ingredients, we started to make the Okonomiyaki. The first step was easy, dump all the ingredients onto the hot fry pan, then make it into a circular shape that is about 2CM thick. We waited for about 6 minutes to let the shape to be firm, and then flip it to cook the other side. The flipping was the hardest part. We had to make sure the Okonomiyaki did not break into pieces. After that, break the egg and place Okonomiyaki on top of it. Then it's done! The last step is to add as much sauce as we want! With the fry noodle, there is an additional step of cooking the noodle first, then place the egg on top of it.
We liked the Okonomiyaki with noodle that provides more texture when we bite on it.
Overall, it was an amazing experience at Sakuratei to make Okonomiyaki. It was extremely fun to make it ourselves. Next time, we would be able to try all you can eat option and make as many as possible!
Meiji Jingu is one of the most popular shrine located in Tokyo and it is a must visit tourist attraction in Tokyo. Meiji Jingu is located on the West side of Tokyo. It can be reached directly by train by getting off at Yoyogi station and other train stations. From Tokyo station, it takes about 15 minutes by train to get to Meiji Jingu.
Meiji Jingu has multiple entrances. We entered from the North entrance gate. Once we entered the Meiji Jingu park, we walked for 5 minutes to get to the actual temple.
The temple is well maintained and very clean. There is 1 big tree at one corner, with a lot of prayers from people placed around it. There are 2 other trees at the adjacent corner and these 2 trees are tightly hooked to each other. It is said that prayer made under these 2 trees will get the couple to live happily ever after. All these 3 trees are very round. Not sure if they are being trimmed at regular basis or it somehow just grew like that.
Other than these 3 trees, we did not see any other trees within the temple. Outside of the temple, there is a small building that can be used to held wedding ceremonies. It is usually closed and not allow people to enter. But this is the only building with AC turned on during this hot summer day.
At each entrance of Meiji Jingu temple, there are also booths that sell Omamories, which is Japanese luck charms. There are several Mikos, who are Japanese shamans in the booths selling Omamories. Mikos usually wear white tops and red pants. They are usually seen with bows and arrows. The Omamories that are being sold at Meiji Jingu looks rather nice and have variety of colors. In our opinion, the Omamories sold at Meiji Jingu looks the best among all the temples we have visited. Thus we bought few Omamories to bring us some good luck.
As we leave Meiji Jingu, we went out from the South entrance. On the South entrance side, there were a lot of Japanese alcohol container baskets placed on the side with various symbols and drawings on them. They were stacked together and looked quite fancy. There were also Kimono rental service for woman to try out the Kimono for few hours. The Kimono rental here only has 1 style, which is red. It looks like it does not do the hair for you and you wear the Kimono on top of your cloth. Since the weather was extremely hot, not many people were trying it.
In our opinion, Meiji Jingu is a great place to visit with rich history behind it. The Omamories sold here are also amazing and beautiful. It is definitely worth it to buy Omamories to bring the luck.
Gora Park is located at Hakone Gora in Japan. To get to Gora Park, you first have to take Hakone Tozan Railway from Odawara station all the way to the last station at Gora station. From Gora station, it is an uphill walk of about 5 to 10 minutes depending on how first you walk. For some people, this may be a steep climb to get to the top of the hill, but there are buses from Gora station to take people there. In addition, for some reason the Gora Park entry is not free. The admission fee is 550 Japanese Yen. However, if you have Hakone Day Pass, you can enter Gora Park for free.
We went to Gora Park in the afternoon and not many people are there. It is a beautiful park with flowers and trees. The color of the park is actually quite vibrant. At the enter of the park, there is a water fountain in front of a big oak tree.
There are also many small cafe within the park. We found it quite strange because Gore Park already charges an admission fee. Not sure how many people actually come to the park just to go to the cafe.
The Gora Park is also divided into different sections with different flower types. There is also a rose garden there. Most roses have passed its peak blossom season, but we could still see few roses there.
There is also an insect exhibit, which we had no interest in. We did see many kids getting quite excited about what kind of insects that they will find.
We were only at the Gora Park for about 30 minutes. We felt that this park was built just to attract tourists and squeeze some more money out of the tourist. So we strongly do not recommend this place unless you somehow happen to be here, right in front of the park. There was really not much to see, and you will most likely be disappointed. It may be wiser to visit other art museums in the area.
