Tokyo/Kawaji Onsen Dec 2014 Part II - KAI Kawaji Ryokan (Room)

Continued from Part I - Shibuya, Tsukiji Market

Day 2 of our trip and we would be making a side trip to Kawaji Onsen! Kawaji Hot Spring is located in northern Tochigi prefecture in the northern part of the Kanto region. So far, we've been to Nikko, Kinugawa and Yunishigawa (which are all onsen towns close by), so I thought it would be good to explore another different onsen town.


We took our time to pack and check-out, leaving our big luggage with the hotel and proceeded to Shinjuku. Had lunch at my favourite Matsuya fast food eatery where you purchase your food ticket via a vending machine and hand it to the service staff. The food available is similar to Yoshinoya, but somehow we prefer Matsuya. I ordered a grilled pork set which came with a generous serving of pork belly, miso soup, rice and cabbage salad. Hubby ordered a kimchi stew set. Food at Matsuya is always value-for-money and satisfying. (That said, I tried Yoshinoya in SG before and standards simply cannot compare to the ones in Japan).

After lunch, we walked around Shinjuku a bit and then proceeded to the platform to wait for our Limited Express train bound for Kinugawa Onsen at 1301hrs. In Japan it's always better to be early and standby at the platform because when the train ticket says 1301hrs, it literally leaves at 1301hrs. Moreover, Shinjuku station is huge and may not be easy to locate the exact platform, so lead time is important. Many years ago, we got lost trying to locate a train platform and had to run for our lives to catch the train just before it departed.

The train ride took almost 2hrs, and as we approached the countryside, we were greeted with lovely views of nature. It was early winter, so no snow yet, and the autumn foliage was already over. But still, beautiful.

The train ended the service at Kinugawa-Onsen station and we had to change to another train bound for Kawaji-Yumoto Station.

Had about 15 mins to walk around the station and take a breather.

The next train ride took about 15 mins, and we reached Kawaji-Yumoto Station.

Bye bye train as it continued it's journey towards Yunishigawa and beyond.

Kawaji-Yumoto Station is small and rustic and not a single soul around (apart from the station master who collected ticket payment from us).

The ryokan we were going to stay is located about 5 mins drive or 15 mins walk from the station. During reservation, had communicated our request for transfer and indeed, the driver from the ryokan was already awaiting for us.

There we have it, KAI Kawaji Ryokan. I'm very particular when it comes to selecting resorts/hotels during our vacation, especially ryokans. Would conduct extensive research on the internet, read reviews, look at photos. Very excited to have found KAI Kawaji and I must say the property certainly impressed both hubby and I, in terms of the hospitality, rooms, onsen, food and ambience. Total price was 36000 yen nett, and that's inclusive of a kaiseki dinner and breakfast, which I would say quite a fair price to pay considering the overall quality we got. Thumbs up!

Very zen-looking reception area.

We were ushered to take a seat near the full-glass window.

Japanese hospitality, cold towel and tea, and personalised check-in. We just needed to chill and relax.

The amountains and trees were almost stripped bare, I could imagine the beauty during winter where the whole place would be snowy and white. And even as it was, beautiful enough for me.

I had booked a Superior Tatami Suite with River View and we were brought by the hostess to level 7.

The room was huge, with two queen beds, comfy lounge sofa and a sunken kotatsu (low, wooden table frame covered by heavy blanket, underneath is a heat source)

If there are more than 2 guests, additional futons can be laid to accommodate for 2 or even 3 more people.

As usual, love large cushy lounge sofas like this.

We didn't use the kotatsu because it's not that cold. Much preferred the bed or the lounge sofa.

Opposite the beds is the closet for additional futons as well as yukata for both of us.

And of course there's toilet and bathroom, and mini fridge, as well as tea-making accessories.

The wash area is big and all the essential toiletries are provided. Basically you don't have to bring a single thing to stay here.

There's also an in-room bathtub (not spring water, just tap) but we never ever use the in-room bath because of the onsen, which is the whole point about coming to an onsen area :) Which unless of course your room comes with a private ofuro with natural spring water piped in. But still, our preference is always to visit to the public bath because it's much more spacious and I usually select ryokans based on the scenery offered for the open-air onsen.

Complimentary Furoshiki for guests to bring home as souvenirs! Furoshiki is a type of traditional Japanese wrapping cloth made of different fabrics, traditionally used to transport clothes, gifts, or other goods.

Apparently each Hoshino Resorts has its own Furoshiki design. Now this makes me wanna stay at all the different properties in order to collect the designs!

Excited about what the resort has to offer yet? Stay tuned for the next post, more about the resort and the onsen!

Travel resources:

• Kinugawa-Kawaji Hot Spring - http://www.kinugawa-kawaji.jp/english/top.html
• KAI Kawaiji - http://global.hoshinoresort.com/kai_kawaji/

Tokyo/Kawaji Onsen Dec 2014 Part I - Shibuya, Tsukiji Market

To hubby and I, Japan is like a must-go destination, at least once a year. And so we did! Managed to squeeze a short 5D4N trip in December last year, even with an onsen stay at Kawaji, to boot!

Since our stay was so short, we had to maximise our time efficiently. Took a red-eye flight into Narita so that we could reach in the morning with a full day ahead; and took a night flight back to SG likewise. Both of us knew the place well, knew what we wanted, so no time wasted at all.

Our itinerary went something like this:
Day 1 - Arrival at Narita Airport, Narita Express to Shibuya, check-in at Shibuya Excel Tokyu, Tsukiji Market, Kappabashi, Shibuya
Day 2 - Check-out, Shinjuku for lunch, Limited Express train to Kawaji Onsen, check-in at KAI Kawaji
Day 3 - After breakfast, check-out and travel back to Shinjuku, shopping around Shinjuku, check-in at Shibuya Excel Tokyu, Shibuya
Day 4 - Little Pie Factory at Hiroo, Arisugawa Park, Shibuya
Day 5 - Jiyuugaoka, Aoyama, flight back to SG

Actually this was my first time taking the Narita Express from the airport to the city area. Usually we would take the airport limousine bus that takes us directly to our hotel. But I wanted to try something different this time, and also because we had the JR Kanto Area Pass which covers the fare for Narita Express.

We bought the pass and also booked the train tickets at the Narita Airport JR East Travel Service Centre.

Basically this is a consecutive 3-day pass for unlimited rides using reserved seats on Shinkansen, limited express and other regular trains in Tokyo and the surrounding Kanto area.

The pass cost 8300 yen per person, which is value-for-money because a one-way ticket on board Narita Express is 3190 yen and two-way limited express train to/fro Kinugawa Onsen is 8000 yen. That's already savings of  3490 yen (and not forgetting the JR Yamanote line which we use quite often when traveling within Tokyo).

We reached the Shibuya Excel Tokyu at about 10.30am, which is usually too early for check-in. But the front office offered us an upgrade of room with immediate check-in (couldn't remember how much, maybe 2000-3000 yen) which we gladly took up the offer so that we could freshen up before the intense shopping ahead.

The room was good size with two Queen size beds. For stays in Japan, we usually opt for twin-bedded room rather than a single king bed room because the former room size is much bigger, so we have more room to pack our luggage.

All the usually amenity are provided and somehow squeezed in two couches and two coffee tables.

Standard size bathroom, with a full-size bathtub.

Lovely view! We could see the Yoyogi Park in the horizon.

My favourite crossing of Shibuya.

Night view.

After freshening up, we proceeded to Tsukiji Market, couldn't wait to tuck in to our first sushi meal!

As usual the market was very vibrant with lots of fresh produce from different parts of Japan.

Wish I could buy more stuff back. (Yes I pack grocery and fruits/veg back ok).

Saw some grilled beef, couldn't resist buying a stick for appetiser. Oishii!

Lunch time! There are several sushi restaurants/eateries at Tsukiji market, just walk into any of them. Chances are any of these shops would offer fresher, cheaper and better quality sashimi and sushi than back in SG.

Take your pick from the conveyor belt, or simply shout out your orders to the sushi chefs.

Some of the sushi we ate.

Total damage, 5196 yen. And even with GST, the meal was about S$60 only! This could easily cost us $80-100 back home.

My lovely box of Yuzu from Tsukiji Market! 13pc for 2527yen (~S$28, ~S$2+ each). In SG supermarkets, if lucky to spot, each pc goes for about S$6.50. Lalalalala =D

After Tsukiji Market, I headed to Kappabashi for kitchen and baking stuff whereas hubby proceeded to his favourite fishing tackle shops.

In the evening, we just hanged around at the vibrant Shibuya.

Ate ramen for dinner.

It's damn shiok to eat ramen during winter.

A huge bowl of ramen like this cost less than S$10, the broth was so good!

Not forgetting some gyoza to go along!

After dinner, we went to Tokyu Food Show depachika, which is the basement food hall market. Japan depachika are definitely feasts for the senses and there's so much vibes that made me go high each time I visit.

Since I was still full from dinner, could only take in some ice-cream for dessert. Did I mention before that it's also very shiok to eat ice-cream during winter, especially after a hot bowl of ramen. LOL!

Stay tuned for next post, on Kawaji Onsen!!

Travel resources:

• JR Kanto Area Pass - http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/kantoareapass/
• Narita Express - http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/nex/
• Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu - http://www.tokyuhotelsjapan.com/en/hotel/TE/TE_SHIBU/index.html
• Tsukiji Market - http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/tukiji_e.htm

Wholegrain Burger & Salad

Updated as at 7 Jun with addition of Quinoa Salad.

2 weekends ago, I attended a Wholegrain Burgers & Salads Class conducted by Chef Mayura Mohta (author of The Wholefood Kitchen - Naturally Nourishing Meals for a Healthy Lifestyle) at Shermay's Cooking School. (For those unaware, Shermay's Cooking School is closing and shifting office from end June onwards).

In the recent months, I'm on an exercise and diet regime, hoping to lose some weight and eat more healthily. My knowledge with wholegrain/herb/spice ingredients and cooking is very limited and honestly I'm not sure whether I would enjoy eating these food. Rather than buying the ingredients and exploring recipes myself, I thought perhaps by attending an initiation class like this (with tasting), I could try for myself whether this category of food would actually appeal to my palate.

To my delight, Chef Mayura really convinced me that healthy wholegrain food like quinoa, millet and wild rice can actually taste yummy and not difficult to prepare! In a span of less than a week, I've already tried and adapted some of the recipes. Certainly a good start!

Will not be sharing exact recipes here due to copyright, and also I didn't follow the recipes exactly, just estimated and adapted everything to my personal taste.

The first recipe I tried was the Quinoa Beet burger. I always thought that quinoa is very difficult to cook but surprisingly easy, just cook in water till all the water is absorbed and you can see sprouts appearing, so cute!

In this burger, besides cooked quinoa, I also added beet, carrot, sweet potato; and spices/herbs included ginger, garlic, cumin powder, Gochugaru Korean Chilli Powder, tumeric powder, salt, parsley and spring onion. After mixing all the ingredients and shaping them into burger patties, they were then oven-baked. At this point, they were ready to eat, or they could be frozen for up to 2 weeks.

The Quinoa Beet burger was very flavourful with the spices/herbs added and sweet due to the beet, carrot and sweet potato. I pan-fried it (without oil) for a while, so the exterior was very crispy. Overall the texture of the burger had a lot of bite, due to the quinoa and root vegetables. I also paired the burger with a Avocado Yogurt dip and loved the combination!

Another recipe I attempted was the Potato Oat burger. Pretty straightforward and I believe would be accepted by kids too.

In this burger, I added potato, zucchini, rolled oats, instant oats (which is a binder, alternatively use an egg), feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, assorted seeds and nuts (pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds). I reserved a portion of this for my son, and for the remaining added spring onion, parsley, cumin powder, Gochugaru Korean Chilli powder, all-spice mix, ginger, garlic and salt. Likewise after mixing all the ingredients and shaping them into burger patties, they were then oven-baked. At this point, they were ready to eat, or they could be frozen for up to 2 weeks.

Love this burger! Very creamy and fragrant due to the addition of potato and oats. The feta cheese, sundried tomatoes and nuts/seeds added texture and taste to the burger. The kiddo ate one burger (sandwiched with burger buns) and he didn't even know zucchini was added! Haha, clever way to trick kids into eating more veg yah? For my version, I loved the addition of the spices and herbs which enhanced the overall taste. Paired the burger with beet hummus which was even better than eating it plain.

The beet hummus that I paired with the potato oat burger was made using beet, chickpeas, sesame seeds, lemon juice, garlic, dried parsley, cumin powder, black pepper and salt. Whereas the avocado yogurt was made with avocado, Greek yogurt, maple syrup, garlic, lemon juice, black pepper and salt. These two dips are very versatile, besides having them with burgers, they could also be eaten with chips or bread sticks.

One of the salad I learnt from the class was the Wild Rice Salad. Interestingly, wild rice isn't even a rice, it's actually seed of grass which is high in fibre, protein-rice and gluten-free!

The cooked wild rice takes a slightly longer time to cook then quinoa, is very chewy and earthy. I love it! This salad is mixed with cooked wild rice, celery, pomegranate, yellow bell pepper, spring onions, fresh parsley, fresh mint leaves, feta cheese, raisins and assorted nuts/seeds. The dressing paired during class was a pomegranate dressing made with pomegranate juice, garlic, salt, paprika powder, lemon juice and olive oil. I replaced the pomegranate juice with homemade strawberry jamr.

Totally love this salad, very flavourful, with lots of different textures and tastes. I made a large batch and finished it over 3-4 meals. Will definitely have this salad once or twice a month!

Update as at 7 Jun
Made Quinoa Salad and love it as well! Besides quinoa, added chickpeas, arugula leaves (rocket leaves), red bell pepper, carrot, sundried tomatoes, olives, fresh parsley, dried raisins, dried cranberries and assorted nuts/seeds like almond, cashew, pine, sunflower, pumpkin (the dried fruits and nuts/seeds came mixed in a pack). For the dressing, I used lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt, maple syrup and paprika.

The different textures as well as flavours worked really well together here. The dressing of lemon juice and maple syrup gave a very refreshing taste to the salad. The surprise for me was the arugula leaves. I hated the taste of it and would avoid it whenever I eat salad. But surprisingly the strong nutty flavour blended perfectly with the rest of the ingredients and I actually added more to the salad.

Another satisfying salad that I could add to my list now!

Salads learnt from the class:

• Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with Lemon Honey Dressing
• Millet Salad with Spicy Buttermilk Dressing
• Wild Rice Salad with Pomegranate Dressing

All three salads offer different textures and flavours, and I love them all! Next up, I'm going to try the Quinoa Salad and Millet Salad.

The burgers and salads were in fact so satiating (had them late afternoon) that I felt full without necessity for dinner! The class certainly expanded my horizon and changed my perception about wholegrains altogether. Wholegrains will certainly form part of my diet from now onwards!