So .... I've definitely eaten more than 26 kinds of food in Japan, but this should be a good enough reason for you to visit this foodie's paradise!
No trip to Japan would be complete without eating Japanese food. Usually, I do not write a separate post on the food scenario in a country that I visit, however for Japan, I'm making an exception. I need to convince people why they should visit Japan. I may have not known the names of all the things that I ate there (because it was all written in Japanese) or the names of all the restaurants that I dined at, however, I do have some mouth-watering pictures to share. Any info. I have about a food joint will be shared along with each picture.
1) Creamia - This is one rich, creamy and full-fat milk flavoured thats very common in Japan. Even the cone if made from Japanese wafer.
2) Gyoza - Probably a very common Japanese food. However, in UAE, I'll have to pay atleast four times the price to enjoy 6 pieces. I stopped at a random food joint at Namba station in Osaka just after I landed, and I got this treat for a steal!
3) Rikuro's Cheesecake - This wobbly piece of heaven has been making rounds on the internet, and I was determined to try it out. Its light and fluffy but does have a strong smell of egg. We bought an entire cake and both of us had half each for brekkie the following day.
4) Okonamiyaki - This Japanese style pancake is available throughout Japan. Everyone boasts that theirs is the best. In order to know the reality, we tried them in every city. Just watching them prepare it is an art.
5) Takoyaki - These crispy octopus filled balls are a popular street food in Japan. They taste really good! Just make sure not to pop it into your mouth immediately!
6) Oysters - I have never had a cooked oyster in my life, that was until I visited Japan. The first one I had was in Miyajima, and there was no turning back. They cook them in various style - char grilled, deep fried, etc. In some of the markets in Japan, like the Omicho Market ... they have entire stalls dedicated to oysters. Each size in priced differently. Just pay for it, season it and pop it in!
7) Fish cake- A maple leaf looking thing which is a popular street food in Miyajima.
8) Cream Puff Pastry - I have no idea what they call these in Japan, but I had these in Kyoto. Its a pastry filled with cream. We tried the ones filled with matcha, sakura and something else!
9) Ichigo Daifu - Mochi is very common in Japan. We had this one while we were on our way to the Todaiji temple in Nara.
10) Green Beer - Because ... how many people get to have a beer thats green? We had this somewhere in Kyoto.
11) Sushi - This is something we all associate Japan with. Sushi train restaurants are very common in Japan, and while the regular fishy sushi is available everywhere, some of the restaurants even have them with meat. The meat ones are really good!
12) Grilled Bamboo Shoot - We usually have little slices of bamboo shoot in Chinese or Indian cuisine, however, I've never had a big chunk all by myself. We tried this in one of the little stalls at Maruyama Park in Kyoto.
13) Grilled Rice Balls - We found this at the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto, however, you'd probably find it anywhere. They are basically rice balls, brushed with sweet sauce and dusted with soy bean powder.
14) Gold Leaf Ice cream - Only in Kanazawa, will you find an ice cream thats covered in real gold leaf. You're sure to feel like a million bucks!
15) Omurice - I became a fan of this dish when I had it in Kanazawa. Its basically an omelet stuffed with whatever you choose and smothered in a sauce of your choice. Omurice = Omelet + Rice!
16) Japanese Curry - You do not need to be a fan of curry to try out Japanese curries. They are different from other curries and are really comforting. We tried one at the Shirakawago bus station and another in Tokyo. In some restaurants in Japan, you can choose your fave curry from a machine thats located outside the restaurant, pay for it and then enter. Make sure you try out the hashed beef curry!
17) Dumpling looking things! - I have no idea what these were called or what they're filled with. We saw a long line at a certain restaurant at Yokohama Chinatown and knew that we had to try it. Its got a dumpling texture on top and a pastry texture at the bottom. We burnt our tongues when we tried to stuff one in our mouth. Its filled with hot soup!
18) The actual dumplings - Okay, these were normal dumplings that we found at Yokohama Chinatown. They're there everywhere!
19) Tokyo Banana - The cutest little cakes shaped like a banana and filled with banana cream, choco- banana cream, etc. They are available at a couple of stations in Tokyo and even at the airport.
20) Ikinari Steak - When in Tokyo, make sure you visit this steakhouse. They are so welcoming and the steak is to die for!
21) Totti Candy Factory - for the largest, fanciest and most colourful cotton candy you'll ever see ... atleast for me. They are located in Harajuku, Tokyo.
22) Japanese breads - The Japanese sure know how to get creative with their bread. We ditched the regular breakfast in Japan and headed to bake shops to try out their assorted breads. Black bread, green bread, panda shaped breads ... they have them all!
23) Seafood in a shell - That's the best name I could give this shell filled with all kinds of seafood. I found this at the Tsukiji market in Tokyo. Trust me, its worth every yen!
24) Pablo's Cheesetart - We tried out 3 mini tarts filled with matcha, cheese and chocolate. I personally loved the chocolate tart and its no surprise why.
25) Scallops - In UAE, scallops are a delicacy that come at a price. In Japan, they're sold almost everywhere and are dirt cheap. I don't think a day passed by when I didn't eat a scallop!
26) Yakiniku - Last but not the least, I loved the concept of grilling my own meat. Japan has one of the best beef (Kobe beef) that I know of and we weren't afraid to unleash our inner carnivore.
Phew !!!!
So .... I've definitely eaten more than 26 kinds of food in Japan, but this should be a good enough reason for you to visit this foodie's paradise!
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While in Kyoto, we managed to spare a few hours to visit a small city called Nara. Nara is the oldest capital of Japan and a hidden gem that's an hour away from Kyoto. With our Japan Rail Pass, we were able to board any train to Nara. Just like Kyoto, Nara is home to a number of temples. Its upto you to decide how much time you want to spend there and what places you'd like to visit.
We managed to go around Nara by ourselves. We brought a day pass for 500 Yen at the main train station which is basically a hop on-hop off kinda thing. It follows a certain route and thankfully the two places that we intended to visit were along that route. If you plan on visiting many places, this is your best option rather than paying for each stop.
HORYUJI TEMPLE
Our first stop was - Horyuji Temple (this wasn't on our agenda by the way!). Its just that the deer outside the temple kinda tempted me to get off. Before heading to the temple we had to pass through a park where 100's of deer were roaming about. After Miyajima, this was the next place to be filled with deer. They were after our bags, maps ... basically anything.
Nara is very memorable to me because I had a "bad experience gone good" here ... which I shall discuss later. The Horyuju Temple grounds have a couple of buildings located within their premises, the prominent one being the five storey pagoda and the House of Visions. Some of the structures here are said to date back to the 6th century. It is also one of Japan's oldest temples and considered a World Heritage Site. Before leaving, I decided to pop into a little temple to have a closer look inside.
TODAIJI TEMPLE
Our next stop was Todaiji Temple, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This temple is home to the Great Buddha. Its pretty much a long walk to reach the statue and you would come across more deer on your way. Not to forget little shops that sell amazing food like this strawberry mochi which I so happily devoured!
MY LOST & FOUND BAG STORY !!! :O
As I walked along with my mochi, I noticed that my handbag was missing! My bag will all the cash, credit cards (thankfully Mr. D offered to carry the passports that day). In all the panic, we began retracing our path trying to figure our where my handbag could be. We looked at our recent pictures & noticed that I didn't have the bag with me. Then, it hit me ... I left it the the previous temple. What followed was utter chaos - a marathon to the taxi stand and a big fat taxi fare for barely a 2 minute ride. Once we reached Horyuji Temple, we rushed to that spot where we thought it was and noticed that my bag still wasn't there. Just when we thought that the sky was falling down on us, we looked to the right and saw one of the temple caretakers carefully fold a grey bag and keep it aside. I don't know how many times I thanked the gentleman! Everything in my bag was intact - the 900 Dollars, credit cards ... it was all still there. Yes, genuine people still do exist! With a sigh of relief, we headed back to Todaiji Temple again.
TODAIJI TEMPLE Continued ...
We walked all along until we reached an ancient wooden gate from where we saw this wooden building. Inside the building, was a larger than life size copper-bronze statue of Great Buddha and a couple of other statues beside him. It was beautiful & definitely worth the long walk.
KASUGA SHRINE
Once again, we hopped onto the bus and made our way to the final attraction in Nara. Kasuga Shrine also happens to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a Shinto Shrine famous for its stone and bronze lanterns. There's a long walkway in the middle of a beautiful forest leading upto the shrine with plenty of photo opportunities. There are also a couple of Torii gates and vermilion structures along the way.
After spending 4 hours in Nara, we were on our way back to Kyoto!
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