Chow in Narita Airport

Stranded for eight hours in the airport is no fun at all, anyone can tell you that. But it did get better when we were given a meal voucher of 2000 yen each.

The thought of a Japanese meal was certainly more welcome than the inflight food.

We settled ourselves into a small cafe that had a menu that looked promising and we were not disappointed. Pretty good chow...

A chirashizushi set with cold soba and pickles

Sansai 山菜 soba (mountain vegetable noodle)

Very good miso ramen

Prawn tempura udon

Unagi with rice

Sauteed pork with mushroom and onions

All that plus a round of latte and green tea ice cream. The waiting time did feel shorter when the palates were busy.

Phew! At last, dished out all the goodies from our Japan trip. While doing these postings, it was like back in Japan again. Two trips for the price of one, not bad!

K and Jo

More Takayama Eats And Dinner At An Izakaya

Another reason we chose to walk around town are the many eateries along the street, at almost every corner there is bound to be 'something' to try and as we only had this one day to try everything we did just that...

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is sometimes referred to as a Japanese pancake or pizza. The batter and ingredients like vegetables, seafood and eggs are fried on both sides on a hot plate (teppan).

She topped it with a sauce (like Worcestershire sauce but thicker and sweeter - very similar to tonkatsu sauce), shredded nori, bonito flakes and Japanese mayonnaise. Yummy!!

There was a queue at the front of this restuarant and was packed when we first walked past and to us, packed means good food and a must-try. It has a take-away counter at the side and we tried some of its fare to whet our appetite...

This got to be the best thing we have had on this trip - chunks of dice-sized hida beef on bamboo skewers grilled to perfection. Every bite evoked pleasurable moans of ohs and ahs....So tender and so juicy!

Hidagyu sushi

The thin slivers of beef, cooked with a blow torch (see the last picture in the previous post - Takayama old town), placed on sushi rice and served on a tasty rice cracker.

Hida chuka - Chinese noodle in Hida

Later in the afternoon, we returned to the shop and finally managed to get a seat in the restaurant.

I had the hidagyu ramen. This Chinese noodle is unique to Takayama. It is served with a soup based of dried bonito and soy sauce. The ramen noodles totally out shined the slices of hida beef in this instant. They are thin (very much like soba), has just the perfect chewiness and to me, the best noodle I have ever tasted but thinking hard I can't recall any bad experience with noodles in Japan, ever! The soup looked dark and appeared salty but actually tasted very light.

K had the pork belly ramen. He didn't think much of the soup and I know why, he only like his ramen with miso-based soup.

Had more of the hidagyu sushi.

After all that greediness in the afternoon walk we thought we would go for a light dinner. So we chose an izakaya, a pub cum diner. It is a type of restaurant more for drinking and food served are catered more to go with drinks. It is less formal and all share the dishes rather than individually. Very popular among the Japanese.

The bar area

Waited for all the patrons to clear and snapped this shot. Just wanted to showcase the bar table top made of one single piece of timber cut lengthwise about 15-20 cm thick, 80 cm wide and 5 metres long!! That really got K drooling.

The izakaya quaint interior.

A most refreshing cold tofu dish with soy and garnished with chopped ginger, leek and dried bonito flakes.

Hidagyu again. Can't seem to get enough of these. Grilled to medium rare - so tender and juicy with every bite.
A grilled fish.

Fried tofu perfectly done in a wild mushroom broth.

Do as the Japanese do in Japan--drink! This sake was cold and really good (we were told that only in winter or if the sake is of inferior quality that it is drank warmed).

A lovely cold Sapporo beer.

Jo

Takayama old town

Takayama (高山市) is a city located in Gifu, Japan. The kanji characters (for those who knows chinese) means high mountain city. It has a population of close to 100,000.

Takayama is best known for its in carpentry skill. In fact, the history of the town begins with its carpenters. They are said to have worked on the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and on many of the temples in Kyoto. That the reason why the town is also fondly referred to as 'little Kyoto'. Its culture took shape due to the high altitude and separation from other areas of Japan which kept the area very isolated in ancient times. This allows Takayama to develop its own culture.

The Miyakawa River separates the new and the old town of Takayama.

The young (new) and the old...

Walking along the old town, met this cute baby with grandma. They were so friendly especially the baby and I just couldn't resist taking the snap. When sorting through the pictures, thought this is so appropriate describing Takayama.

San-machi Suji

In Takayama, one finds old streets and buildings that are untouched by the passage of time. This district called San-machi Suji with the traditional home of Takayama merchants and sake brewers, has been preserved in almost exactly the same state as 200 or 300 years ago.


This is the center of the old town of Takayama and is still a living part of the city. It retains most of its old buildings in immaculate condition and has a lovely quaint atmosphere.

The three main streets of Sanno-machi Suji are Ichino-machi, Nino-machi and San-machi. They are narrow and lined with stores selling traditional wares and craftsmen's workshops. The buildings themselves are every bit as interesting as the items on display. Fine restaurants serving local delicacies such as soba noodles, hida beef and a number of family-run ryokans which trace their history back many generations can be found nestled in these old buildings.

You can explore Takayama's old town on foot or getting pulled through the streets on a rickshaw. A 30 minute tour for two persons costs around 6000 Yen.

We preferred to exercise our leg muscles and with walking we get to stop by interesting stores all along the way. So much to see!

Houmeitaigumi Preservation Area

This area is designated as a 'Nationally important historical building preservation area'.

Kusakabe Heritage House

The Kusakabe Heritage House (Kusakabe Mingeikan) is one of the oldest of several common homes in Takayama, that are open to the public. Its former residents, the Kusakabe family, used to be successful money lenders.

Hida Kokubunji Temple

This is the oldest temple in Takayama, situated just 5 minutes walk from the train station. It was originally built in 746 but the original temple was burnt down. The three-storied pagoda was built in 1821 and standing by it is a ginkgo tree that is reputed to be 1,200 years old. The 1,200 years old tree stands as high as the pagoda about 10-15 metres away.

Its massive trunk measures more than 2 metres in diameter.

Entrance to the Hachiman Shrine Sakurayama Hachiman Shrine (Sakurayama Hachimangu), another of the many temples in Takayama.

Marvelled at the amazing wood craftsmanship...

An inner shrine of the temple

A wishing tree. Paper written with wishes and prayers are tied to the tree and the surrounding fence.

A lady standing in front of a temple deep in prayers.

A lacquer-ware store

A wood craft store

With a set of unique furniture

A workshop for plastic food art. Like those we see at restaurants' window display.

Miso store

One of the many many souvenir's store found in town.

Street food of Takayama

K and Jo

Takayama Morning market

There are two morning markets held in Takayama on a daily basis, from around 6 am (7 am in winter) to noon: the Jinya-mae Market in front of the Takayama Jinya, and the Miyagawa Market along the Miyagawa River in the old town. Most stands sell local crafts and farm products such as vegetables, pickles and flower.

One whole day free in Takayama!! At 7 am, while K was still asleep, I sneaked out of the hotel, armed with my camera and headed for the Miyagawa Market. I love markets especially this one because of its lovely setting by the river and the very many colorful and interesting food and crafts on display.

Peaches

Apples

Takayama is famous for its apples and peaches.

This lady peels the apple without breaking the rind with her left hand. Her right hand is not very mobile.

Miso specialty stall

I love these stores because there is always a hugh pot of steaming miso soup ready for sampling. This store even have samples for Hoba miso, miso on magnolia leaves on top of a hot charcoal stove. Note the two leaves at the foreground.

Hoba miso is very famous from this region of Japan. The magnolia leave with miso is sometimes topped with leek, shitake mushroom and even chunks of Hida beef. So yummy it with a bowl of hot rice.

A very brisk sales for the lady in this pickle stall. As I stood there to shoot, housewives dropped by and just grabbed packets after packets of pickles without sampling. I knew I found my pickle stall! Bought almost a packet of each and came home with a suitcaseful of pickles-infused clothing but definitely worth the smell! Takayama is very well-known for its pickles and Leanne agreed whole-heartedly.

Another Takayama's pride is its wood craftsmanship.

Amazing paper crafts

Mitarashi dango - sticky rice flour balls skewered and charcoal grilled with a sweet sauce of mirin, soy and sugar. The aroma from this stall is so inviting.

Big and small chillies stringed on padi stalks to dry.

Look at the edamame (young soy bean pods)! I could not resist and bought 3 bundles.


Tomatoes in different colors and shapes.

A flower lady with home grown floral.

The only spice stall in the market. She will mix any combo you desired and pack it in the different canisters you chose - bamboo, wood, cardboard or plastic.

First encounter with these tiny eggplants, they are about the size of my little pinky.

They are used mostly for pickles.

Magenta okra

This lady has a display of the most unusually shaped pumpkins I have ever seen...

Jo