Day 3 - Mount Fuji (updated with breakfast pics)

forgot to post..this was at the same hotel at Lake Kawaguchi where I had my fulfilling dinner..the breakfast was just as fulfilling..haha check out the pics.

pic #1: some preserved side dishes

pic #2: RICE, seaweed, fish cake and clam miso (super tasty)

pic #3: my very own udon hotpot and takopachi

all these make up ONE breakfast meal

Temaki and Maki

Felt like some sushi and sashimi (since when do i not feel that way?) so I went to Jason's at Raffles City for some cheap grabs. apparently my grabbing resulted in $7+ for a box of maki, a salmon temaki and a ebi prawn temaki. not that cheap but ok. the maki ($3.60/box) is surprisingly good. the salmon 'sashimi' not only looks fresh, it tastes fresh too. (maybe cuz I bought it before noon) the wasabi taste was not over-powering, unlike the salmon temaki ($2). The ebi prawn one ($1.50) is a waste of time, the prawn was so small, I could hardly taste it. The ebi prawn temaki from Sakana Express ($1.90)wins hand down.

pork knuckles and spaghetti

my mum bought pork knuckles from cold storage (i think) at $10. tasted ok, but cant be compared to the one I had in Black Forest, Germany - I mean, that was accompanied with German beer and followed up with a slice of black forest cake...'nough said.

Fuscili di Bosco and Beef Bolognese! haha..k so i cooked them myself..but still can give fancy names la heh ;) (sorry if my self-concocted dinners gave anyone a lousy appetite =) but doesnt taste that bad haha)

Shihlinsnacks.com.tw and quick bites (Jap takeaway)

what is that? u may wonder. basically i threw everything that i bought into the shihlin box la. anw, the drumlets and soft shell crab mess in the middle that you see - i bought them from quick bites at far east plaza. the drumlets are 5 for $3.50 and the soft shell crab costs $3.50 too (2 for $6). no point eating from there again. the crab tastes like any normal fried thingy..got a bit of crab taste but that's abt it. the drumlets are so-so only. BUT what is worth mentioning is the mushroom cheese crepe ($3.20 for a huge serving) that I got from Shihlin Snacks. Perfect match of cheese and brown mushrooms wrapped in a slightly crispy egg omelette crepe. omg..heaven.. it's a must try.. even when it's not hot it's good. but still nicer to eat it hot =)

with flash and without flash ;)

Ajisen

I forgot to bring my phone out on monday, so I was quite irritated cuz I was gg to Ajisen for dinner.. anw since their website has such nice pics, i might as well use those. my parents each had a bowl of crayfish ramen, which was ok in my opinion. I felt that the soup was too tomato based. I had tom toro ramen - the meat is actually pork cheek..sounds weird but it actually tastes like bacon. that was good..the soup was fantastic. I actually finished my ramen, what with all the side dishes that we had - sashimi..soft shell crab..white fish..almond prawns..cuttlefish. the price? reasonable. we paid a total of abt $45. (any ramen with a side dish and a drink costs $13.80, if you order a ramen, the 3mix side dish and a drink, its $17.80)I had a 10% discount though. applied for membership on the spot. 1year membership at $5 which entitles you to 10% at ajisen or ajitei (their dessert chain) at anytime, 15% off during your bday mth and 50% off ala carte ramen every 3rd monday of the month. tell me where can you find such a good membership deal? heh..it's worth it even if you only use it once or twice the whole year.

Day 4 - Kyoto/Nara/Osaka

Back to the Japan travel blog.. so on day 4 we started out to see a kimono show..modern day kimonos look so fashionable. and yukatas are like so common.

Anw, we had lunch at the same place - tempura lunch
along the way, we saw geishas! (male/female?)

the afternoon was spent visting touristy places and at night we went to shinsaibashi in osaka - one of my fav places in Japan. its a whole long stretch of shopping and food. like a milan at night, except that it's much more Asian (of cuz), crowded and a lot busier. and for dinner we had my FAVORITE (how do I manage to have so many favorites in just one type of cuisine) shabu shabu!

its hot pot, but instead of stock, its just water. the soup at the end is seriously good though, cuz its boiled with the meat and veg. LOVE shabu shabu, and have i mentioned that i love jap rice too?

Dim Sum Buffet - Excelsior Hotel

Went with Rach and Daniel to Excelsior Hotel last monday for dim sum buffet..its under the same branch as Hotel Miramar, under the sterling group of restaurants. so for $10.80+++, we had har kaw, siew mai, carrot cake, chived dumplings, guo tie, xiao long bao, sweet and sour pork, black pepper beef, shrimp paste chicken wings, fried rice, pork ribs, chicken feet, char siew bao, fried shrimp dumplings with salad cream, pork wrapped in beancurd skin, mango pudding, gui ling gao, gingko barley...FREE FLOW.. and there were more that we ordered..char siew pastry, omelette..that never arrived.. i think they're quite smart.. u can indicate that u want two portions of the dish, and they only send one, then they tick it off the paper.. but the thing is, most ppl wont bother to ask for it again.. smart way to maximise profits heh..anw with the tea, peanuts and towels, we paid $14.50 each. so be prepared to pay 1.5 times the stated price. all in all its still worth it for the variety.. the only thing about dim sum is..you can't really go beyond a certain amount..it'll kill the taste.

something seems to be wrong with blogger. click on the pics to view closeup.