Sunday, July 15, 2012

Sushi & Mt. Fuji!

Our 1st Meal in Japan
We touched down on Tokyo early evening and headed straight to Midori Sushi for dinner, a popular sushi chain in Shibuya. Judging from the super long queue we met upon arrival, it definitely reflected its popularity ratings from wl's research. 


Midori Sushi
And the queue kept growing even as we stood in line..
The restaurant served authentic sushi where you could see the chefs in action if you sat at the counter tables.
We only had airline food earlier throughout the day, so we were pretty starved by the time we got to our table. Luckily their menus had some English translation, although in general, the Japanese really can't speak the language at all. It was much easier in Korea. 


We ordered 2 sushi rolls (4pcs each) and a assortment set that looked to be the house specialty. At first, we thought it might not be enough, since in SG we could usually eat plates of sushis at one setting. However, when the food arrived, we were glad that we didn't order more!


Each piece was like half the size of my fist. 大饭团!!!
The rice was super gao! But the salmon sushi was quite yums.


The 2nd set - sushi assortment - which almost everyone else was having, looked good. An exact replica of the photo in the menu.


We ordered the Ultimate Sushi Assortment - Top image in the centre row of menu below.
Innocently thinking the set tastes as yummy as it looked.
Iguess REAL Japanese raw sushi is too..well, RAW for our tastebuds. That set was an overkill of raw seafood, pardon the pun. The raw fish - tuna, mackerel, eel - were still ok, but the prawn and the snow crab...their pink flesh were deceiving! Initially we were expecting semi-boiled, juicy prawn/crab meat to meet our teeth, but both the prawn and crabmeat were TOTALLY raw. Like just peeled-from-shell raw. Or of lack of a better description - "ngiam ngaim". *shudders to think of that moment*

Never thought i'd ever eat crustaceans that raw. And the sea urchin sushi - tasted like brain matter. Well, at least the first 2 rolls with the salmon and unagi were normal. But we didn't eat sushi for a while after the first day. :S


Shibuya
Was super packed at night. They had massive crossroads in the middle of the street with multiple zebra crossings stamped in overlaps, and the traffic lights across different directions could only flash in sync with each other - either all pedestrian crossings, or all vehicle movement. Once the green man flashed, the road was awash with people crossing from all directions, most actually ignoring the zebra crossings and slashing diagonally to the other side of the hexagonal crossroad to their destinations.

  Needless to say, Shibuya, well-known for its shopping malls, was just like our SG's Orchard Rd but much more dramatic. Shibuya 109 Women/Men - were individual buildings boasting of at least 10 floors of shopping catered to each gender. Even the restrooms in each building were catered for only 1 gender. Poor WL had to search a few floors before he found one out of like 5 floors that had dual gender restrooms. 

Shoes galore in just 1 of the numerous outlets within only 1 floor of a shopping mall.
 Everyone, and i mean EVERY FEMALE wore shoes with some form of height leverage in Japan. Wedges, Platforms, Heels paired with every kind of assorted leggings/socks/leg warmers could be seen while walking on the street. It's crazy, because in Japan, you have to walk a lot. And by that i mean, A LOT of walking. Their subway underpasses from one exit to another can go up to 300+m underground!!! But of course, they are always considerate enough to do a countdown for you as you walk to your destination.

Getting to Mt Fuji

On Day 2, I had the pleasure of meeting WL's Japanese friend/working partner, Shirakawa-san (i think) who was back in his hometown for a 2 week break before returning to SG for his overseas stint.  We decided that he would take us to Mt Fuji as a pretext to invite a 'cute girl' he just met on a double date roadtrip! Funny chap! 

The roadtrip was arduously long, about 2 hours back and forth from where we stayed in Higashi Shinjuku. Most Japanese don't venture to Mt. Fuji much, and I don't think anyone could have made it without GPS. We kept making wrong turns and wl's friend admitted that the roads in Japan were very complex. Actually, even the subway lines are so complex that the Japanese themselves need to walk around with subway maps!


We got hungry in-between and stopped for a traditional Houpou meal somewhere near Fuji. I remember that's the term for the food we were eating because it sounded like Hotpot, and it was in fact, very much like the I Love Sindangdong Tteokbokki hotpot thing we had in Korea! Except that their noodles were like extra fat ban mian - i love!


Entrance of the restaurant
Traditional tatami mat dining area


My spicy Houpou mian!

The noodles inside were flat and chewy, not unlike ban mian. The soup base all had pumpkin in it which were super sweet, soft and yummy!!
Shirakawa-san and his date
The Japs are so cute they just automatically pose with the 'peace' sign everytime they stand in front of the camera. It's like a subconscious thing!


The restaurant also had a small corner selling Mt Fuji souvenirs and items like Fuji potato chips, Fuji character plushies, and Fuji-shaped cookies.



Throughout the trip we were tempted to buy many of such prettily packaged Jap snacks!
 Back on the road towards Mt Fuji, the weather wasn't on our side that adventurous day. From the morning the clouds were drizzling threats of a storm, and by the time we reached the 5th station of Mt Fuji - the middle point where trekkers start their upclimb - it was pouring gently but steadily.

A brief glimpse of the still snow-capped peak from the 5th Station.
There were a few souvenir shops on the 5th station, which was (mildly-ashamedly) our main highlight of the visit to Fuji. Obviously we weren't geared for any sort of climb - notice the dress and heels that Shirawaka-san's date was wearing. But, nonetheless, the souvenir shops had really interesting buys! :)

Mt Fuji melon-flavoured sponge-cakes
Yum!
 The first shop we went had a corner selling freshly baked melon-flavoured sponge cakes in the shape of Mt Fuji!! Really yummy and warm especially in the rainy weather. If not for the huge pots of Houpou for lunch, we would definitely have bought one each instead of sharing!

Other shops had Mt Fuji shaped mineral water bottles, and various cookies/snacks shaped like Fuji.

Mt Fuji mineral water!
Fuji Senbei crackers and lollipops

 After browsing around, we ventured back out in the rain to huddle at the photo-point to capture our "we were here @ Fuji" snapshots.
Too cloudy for a nice shot :(

We were here on 1 July 2012!
Dunno how she managed to tahan the wet and cold winds that day. And the rocky ground really wasn't suitable for heels!
  
We walked a bit on the slope which was the beginning of the climb to the peak of Mt Fuji. Just like 10m la haha..the soil was rich and dark-coloured - Volcanic soil indeed.

Start of the upwards climb to the 6th, 7th and 8th stations of Mt Fuji!
Presenting to you, Mt Fuji!
Haha and that was basically the end of our trip to Mt Fuji. But, the day didn't end there. Shirakawa-san then took us to dinner, and he recommended another authentic Japanese cuisine called Monja. And Okonomiyaki - but with DIY cooking!

The restaurant, Gyu-kyu was in Shinjuku, near where we stayed but at the more happening district. Everything was in Jap so Shirakawa-san said it would be hard to visit and experience the meal if we were on our own.

Enter Gyu-kyu to another traditional sitting.
We got the waitress to help with our first serving of Monja!
When the Monja is semi-cooked, scrape a hole in the middle and pour egg into it!

And then you mash it all up again
Use your mini-spatula to eat your Monja!
From Wiki: Monjayaki (もんじゃ焼き?) (often called simply "monja") is a type of Japanese pan-fried batter with various ingredients. It is similar to okonomiyaki but monjayaki, a specialty of the Kantō region, is made with a dough more liquid than is okonomiyaki. The ingredients are finely chopped and mixed into the batter before frying. The mixture is far runnier than okonomiyaki, and it has a consistency comparable to a pool of melted cheese when cooked. It is then eaten directly off the grill using a small metal spatula. Many monjayaki restaurants can be found in the Tsukishima district of Tokyo, where the dish is said to have originated. Most also serve regular okonomiyaki.

Yup, the fun part was scraping the Monja off the hot table to eat. Although it does look like barf more than anything, the first Monja we had was really good! I think it was Mentaiko flavoured. (Anything with mentaiko - cod roe + mayo - is awesome) Subsequently we had another Monja which had bits of seafood - prawn/squid in it.

Shirakawa-san then proceeded to cook our Okonomiyaki. He was like a pro..check out our super round and yummy looking okonomiyaki!

After letting one side sit on the stove, it's flipping time!
Beautifully toasted!!
Adding the sunny side-up!
Sprinkle with garnish and seasoning and Voila!!!
Our chefs for the night! :)
Oh yes have to mention also that they introduced us to Suntory Beer, local brand of beer much like our Tiger. Love the smooth, light and crisp taste without the bitter aftermath that comes with every other beer!! I had 2 glasses that night - it was so good. Would have had more if we weren't so stuffed!

There was also Yakisoba..
Funny pic of Shirakawa-san examining quality of cooked soba.
Us obviously only pretending to cook
Real chef in action - so fast he's a blur! (haha more like camera chui)
End off our hot meal with creamy Matcha and refreshing Yuzu ice cream! Super love!
Customary group shot with our awesome hosts!!! :)
Was really glad we had the 2 of them as hosts for the day. Firstly, it would have taken us ages and much leg pain to get to Mt Fuji on our own. And secondly, we wouldn't have had the chance to try the fabulous traditional cuisines that they brought us to! Definitely our best lunch and dinner for the trip!!

Although Shirakawa-san's date couldn't speak much english, but i was also glad to have another girl for company. The Japanese are a bunch of super courteous and polite people and refused to let us as their 'guests' pay for the meal. This week, WL said Shirakawa-san found a traditional Monja restaurant in SG! Hopefully we get to treat him this time round to thank him for the awesome excursion to Mt Fuji! :)

Ok end of this post - and its only Day 2 of the trip! More on Disney Sea/Japanese Onzen (Hot Spring) later if i'm in the mood! :D