A trip to Kyoto would not be complete without a night out in Pontocho alley, a long and narrow stretch lined with numerous restaurants and bars.
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Kyoto soba three ways
From their menu, you can infer that they get quite a lot of gaijin tourists, because there’s a helpful guide in English on how to eat soba. What’s missing from the guide though, is the most important fourth step: slurp the noodles as loudly as possible.
Continue readingThe complete ryokan experience at Shiraume Kyoto
Tomoko-san is an impeccable host and runs her beautiful inn perfectly. I’ve heard the term omotenashi used many times before, but nowhere is this more evident than at Shiraume.
Continue readingGreen tea pilgrimage to Ippodo Kyoto
I’m addicted to coffee but I do enjoy an occasional cup of tea, especially if it’s from Taiwan or Japan. Since we were spending a few days in Kyoto, it would have been incomplete if we didn’t pay a visit to the Ippodo Tea main store on Teramachi Street.
Continue readingKyo Kaiseki in the heart of Gion
Having a Japanese kaiseki meal is an experience in itself, and there is no better place to enjoy it than in Kyoto, where it originated.
Continue readingSpending an entire day at the Osaka Kaiyukan
The Osaka Kaiyukan (海遊館) is one of the largest aquariums in the world and is a great place to spend an entire day when you’re visiting Osaka. It has dolphins, penguins, sea lions, whale sharks, capybaras and all sorts of marine life from around the world.
Continue readingTeppanyaki at the butcher’s shop
Where do you go for nice but reasonably-priced Kobe beef teppanyaki? First, you take the train to Kobe. Second, you opt for lunch and third, you choose a butcher’s shop that also happens to run a restaurant upstairs.
Continue readingCrab diem, seize the crab!
The Wife and I are huge crab fans and satisfy our cravings at various seafood restaurants in Singapore — chilli crab, black pepper crab, steamed crab, curry crab, crab beehoon, cold crab — you get the idea. So when we found a restaurant in Osaka that served crab kaiseki, we had no choice but to go.
Continue readingTrip planning: Beauty, shopping and food (Seoul Summer 2020)
The Wife was supposed to be on a flight to Seoul three weeks from now, for a week-long girls trip with her good friends DT and XL. Obviously that’s not going to happen now because of that-which-must-not-be-named, but I thought it would be nice if they could at least get to experience it virtually.
Continue readingOne duck was harmed in the making of this post
Back in the day when planes were in the air and international travel was possible, we had the most amazing duck tasting menu in Yilan, Taiwan. It’s been four years since then, but we still can’t forget the best duck soup we’ve ever had in our lives.
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