Food at Yama no Chaya

In my previous post here, I've talked about Yama no Chaya and I've mentioned that my next post will be all about Yama no Chaya's food.

Well, I did hear about luxury Ryokan before I chose Yama no Chaya but I did not expect my dinner to be an 8 course dinner that will last slightly over 2 hours. Wow... That's equivalent to the Chinese's wedding dinner.

This post will be dedicated to Yama no Chaya's dinner and breakfast. For dinner and breakfast, the attendant from Yama no Chaya will ask you on your preferred timing. Basically, the dinner timing will be dependent on when you wish to go for your onsen.

In my case, we had our dinner at 7pm and it ended about 915pm. So... Are you ready? Here goes.

You start off with green tea and the lychee sake.

1st - Japanese mushroom mixed with milk tofu; shrimp,shimeiji-mushroom and Japanese mustard spinach; Barracuda sushi; Carrot and Shrimp sponge cake; small taro with salted sea urchin; arrow head chips; buckwheat noodle sticks and ear of rice 

Close-up of ear of rice covering barracuda sushi and the carrot and shrimp sponge cake

2nd - Clear Bonito soup with Quail meat ball and Maitake-mushroom, potherb mustard and yuzu

3rd - Sashimi Tuna and Grouper

4th - Grilled Sea Bream and boiled Turnip in chicken stock; served with carrot, green onion and Ichimi-pepper

5th - Boiled Mangalica pork in Miso, served with shrimp potato, egg plant, and kidney beans; Grilled pacific saury with shuto, served with ginko nuts and green pepper; Roasted wagyu (ashigara beef), served with chinese yam and Balsamic soy sauce

Close-up of grilled pacific saury with shuto

Close-up of roasted wagyu beef

6th/7th - Roasted Mt Fuji Salmon and shitake mushroom with grated daikon-radish, served with salmon roe, japanese parsley and red raddish; Rice mixed with Matsutake-mushroom

Close-up of roasted Mt Fuji Salmon

This is the pot which was used to cook our mushroom rice

7th - Chef's special miso soup

8th - Purple sweet potato mousse and boiled ginko potato with Lemon, served with raspberry and mint leaf

For breakfast, we did not have the menu list so we were kinda eating blind. We also had an onsen before that so it didn't really cross our mind to ask what we were eating. Oops. :p

This is most of the breakfast set, which mains consist of yummy porridge, mini oden, eggs, fishcake, fried fish.

Close-up of the fish cakem egg and the fried fish behind.

Close-up of the mini oden

Close-up of the miso soup, that contains squid and meat too

Close-up of the yummy fish which is different from the fried fish I mentioned just now

This is the manju available when we first went into the room. I ate it only during breakfast. 

:)

That's all for the food at Yama no chaya. I've never been so pampered in my life. :) Stay tuned for my next posts on Hakone.

To Hakone and Yama no Chaya

I just came back from a trip to Tokyo and for this trip, my wife and I decided to spurge a little so that we could enjoy our holiday prim and proper. :) So how do we spurge on ourselves? By staying at a luxury Ryokan at Hakone, Yama no Chaya.

We arranged with Super hotel so that our main luggage will remain at the hotel while we packed an overnight bag to Hakaone. To get to Hakone, we took the Limited Express Romance Car from the Shinjuku Odakyu line using the Hakone Free Pass for 2 days. The free pass costs 5,140 yen each, and allows you free and easy travel on the following transport modes in Hakone:

1. Hakone Tozan Train
2. Hakone Tozen Cable Car
3. Hakone Ropeway
4. Hakone Sightseeing cruise
5. Hakone Tozan Bus
6. Odakyu Hakone Highway Bus (designated)
7. Numazu Tokai Bus (designated)

You can only purchase the Hakone Free Pass at the station itself. The free pass will also allow you one round-trip between your departure station and Odawara station.

The limited express Romance Car allows you to travel till Hakone-Yumoto station, which was where I stopped. The Romance Car extra charge is 890 yen per trip, in addition to the cost of the Hakone Free Pass, and this can be booked via their website here. To get the panoramic view seats (front / back), you need to book the seats very quickly, exactly 1 month before your departure dates.

I started my journey from the Shinjuku Odakyu Line, all the way to Hakone-Yumoto. Below is the picture of the limited express romance car. The panoramic view seats are the ones you see in front. There are only limited seats available on each train so you have to book pretty early. There are only 4 seats right in front.

The seats are comfortable and they can actually turn 180 degrees, although I did not managed to find the button to do it. :p

I was not in front but I managed to take some photos from my seat as shown below

Romance car has finally pulled into the Hakone-Yumoto station about 1 and a half hours later.

From there, we chose to deposit our overnight bag at Yama no Chaya instead of continuing the trip upwards towards the mountain. We went out of the station towards the bus stop and took bus H to the Kami-tonosawa bus stop, the 3rd bus stop from the main station, estimated about 5 minutes. You can find out more about the bus routes and timings from the maps available in the Hakone-Yumoto station.

Please remember to press the bell once you hear the name being mentioned. The bus will show the bus stop names in both Japanese and English.

Once you alight at the bus stop, cross the road, walk towards the back of the building and walk upwards towards the next bridge using the mini pathway. The bridge to Yama no Chaya will look like the picture below.

Bridge to Yama no Chaya

For some reasons, I also found interesting spiders around the bridge. :)

Spiders around the bridge

Below is the scenery around the bridge. Isn't it beautiful?

You will need to climb up a steep slope to get up to Yama no Chaya so make sure you don't bring such a heavy bag. :) Upon entering, there will be someone by the door who will take care of you. Just mention to them that you speak English only and they'll get someone who can speak the language to take care of you.

Below is the room we were assigned. Nice and cosy...

Our beds. The cupboard containing the Yukata and towels is to the right.

The table in front of the bed, and near the TV. :)

The wash basin is in a separate room, and the toilet is right behind this wash basin.

Private bath is cordoned off to a separate room, beyond this door.

This is the private onsen attached to the room. You will need to shower first before immersing yourself into the onsen.

This is the onsen attached to our room.

Look at the steam coming out of the onsen. Yes, it's quite warm. :)

Do take note of the onsen etiquette in Japan. You will always need to shower first before immersing yourself in the onsen. In this Ryokan, everything is provided so you need not even bring any toiletries with you in your overnight bag.

For Yama no Chaya, you have an option to reserve the private onsen area for an hour. We did it just for the experience and my, the experience is really different. The water somehow, seems different and smoother than the onsen attached to our room. Not sure if its a perception thing.

For the reserved room, called Keikoku no Notenburo, they have 4 shower compartments within, all open-air. Everything is provided for you there so you need not worry. Apologies for the graininess of the photos but I do not have the habit of bringing DSLRS to the bathrooms. I do bring my phone though. :)

Shower room for the reserved room

Private onsen in the reserved room

For all the external onsens, there are maps situated at every exit to let you know where the onsens are located. It's also stated clearly which are the guys or ladies onsens. Do take note that it's not fixed and will change depending on the time of the day. Do not go into the wrong onsen! :)

When you arrive, they will recommend you where you can visit in Hakone based on your preference, and they will also recommend you the time which you can reserve your private onsen. Usually, it'll be planned such that you'll be treated to a sumptuous dinner before you go for your onsen.

That will be another blog post by itself so stay tuned...  :) I will include both the dinner and the breakfast we had. It's something worth remembering.

Mount Takao in Tokyo RELOADED

I just came back from a trip to Tokyo and in my packed itinerary, I managed to squeeze in Mount Takao again! Somehow, I like this place quite a lot and I enjoyed going back to this mountain again. However, this time, I'm going up the old fashioned way... Via the trails up the mountain. Nope. No more cable cars for me for Mount Takao. I have leveled up. :)

If you're interested in going up Mount Takao via cable car, you can check out the post here, which I made back in 2009.

Well, my wife and I intended to go up the waterfall scenic route but for some weird reason, might be due to a lack of sleep, we went up the Inariyama Trail instead. That's the route you see below, where the entrance has a huge yellow banner. The waterfall route was supposed to be on the right. Oh well...

Entrance to Inariyama Trail

Anyway, no use "crying" over spilt milk.  Below is a picture of the tram that goes up and down the mountain if you wish to go up via the more touristy route. :)

Tram going up and down Mount Takao

The Inariyama Trail was already quite challenging the moment you attempt it. Just a bit up the trail, you will see this Shrine in the picture below.

Shrine at Inariyama Trail

After that you get more steps going up the mountain. There are some steps which are specifically carved out like the picture below.

Steps in Inariyama Trail

After a while, you will reach another rest stop which will allow you to see the beautiful view of Tokyo. Some pictures are below for your viewing pleasure. :)

Panoramic view of Tokyo from the rest stop

Panoramic view of Tokyo from the rest stop

Amazing that people will live in a small carved out area at the mountain

After the rest stop, more steps and now, roots to go. You can see some of the normal steps and the roots steps in the pictures below.

Roots steps which is quite common on the Inariyama Trail

Final steps up to the top of Mount Takao

All in all, the trail took us about 1 and a half hour to get up to the top of Mount Takao. Below are some pictures which greeted us once we have reached the summit. Isn't it beautiful? As usual, we couldn't see Mount Fuji though.

After that climb, we decided to go down the mountain via the cable car instead of the trail. Let's not over strain ourselves on the first day in Japan. :) We passed by the Takaosan sign on the way down.

We passed the Shrines too on the way down.

On the way down, we stopped at a shop selling Tengu Soba for lunch. Previously we tried the Tengu Ramen which was just down the trail but we decided Soba is the way to go this time. The soba itself is handmade and the taste and texture is quite unique and nice. Not a bad choice. :)

On the way down, just before the tram, we were also rewarded with a view of Tokyo.

While walking back to the station, we saw this mini waterfall which I couldn't resist taking. We saw an eagle circling around Mount Takao too but the light was not good. I did not manage to get a decent shot at the eagle even though I had several photos. Pity.

That's all for Mount Takao. Stay tuned for more posts... This time, Hakone. :)

Back from Japan

Just came back from Japan via Haneda airport after a 5 year hiatus. Seems like Japan has became a more English friendly place since 5 years ago. Previously, I recalled I have to always keep a lookout for the pillars at the station in order to find out which station I am in right now. Now the announcements are slower, and they are announced and shown both in Japanese and English. It's now possible to visit Japan free & easy without knowing any bit of Japanese.

Haneda airport is also much closer to the city central than Narita airport. However, there are some things to take note at Haneda airport. Not sure if it was due to my luck but the queue at Haneda airport for in-processing is very very long. There were many counters that were manned, one single queue fanning out to multiple counters, but it still took about an hour to get to the baggage area. Therefore, if you're in need to a washroom, better go before you join the queue. Otherwise, there are washrooms near the baggage area too.

In fact, the queue was so long that when I got to the baggage area, I couldn't find my belt. I randomly grabbed a person to ask about the baggage and they have said that the baggage are all removed from the belt, waiting to be collected in one corner. The queue was so long that the baggage has all been processed and now it's processing the other batch. Oh well...

To get your Suica card at Haneda airport, just go to the 2nd floor and look for the ticket machine that sells the Tokyo Monorail Pass. The ticket machines are near the Tokyo Monorail exit so you cannot missed it. I've been using the Suica card for all the lines via this monorail pass so it is safe. To return it, just search for a counter around the area where you purchased the pass. You can get back your 500 yen deposit within your Suica card for more shopping when you leave Tokyo.

This time I stayed at the Super Hotel at Ikebukoro. It's a cheap hotel and it's the place to go if you're just concerned over a place to stay which is near the train station (about 8-10mins walk from Ikebukoro), and provides free breakfast. For ladies, they let you select 5 items a day for free near the counter. They also have staff that could speak English and even Mandarin so be assured. Below is the location of the hotel for your reference.


Breakfast is between 630am - 830am (9am for weekends) and they close the hotel during housekeeping which is between 10am - 3pm. Wifi is accessible in the room and at the lobby. For some reason, I could never get a signal in the breakfast area. The buffet breakfast is nothing to shout about, but they have special dishes like curry and beef sauce over the weekends. I believe quite a few Japanese and even Taiwanese stay at this hotel.

Below is a picture of the twin bedroom for Super Hotel. The toilet is quite small though so you might want to get a bigger room if you need a bigger toilet.

Super Hotel Twin bedrooms

That's it for now... More posts will be coming soon about Tokyo and Hakone.

You are irreplaceable

I quote from Kimberly Giles:

You have probably worked your entire life to create a sense of identity around your job, your family, your hobbies, or your physical characteristics. But none of these is who you really are. You are not what you look like. You are not your family. You are not your job, income, or performance. You are not your current situation or the mistakes you have made. Mistakes are just locations on your journey; they have nothing to do with who you are, and neither does what you do or how successful you are. You are bigger than all those things. You are much more than just a businessman or a mom or a student. You are a divine, irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind, amazing, loving, eternal being, and your value comes from that fact alone.

US works only an average of ...

I was quite surprised to read that the United States employees put in 34.6 hours a week on average in September 2014, the most since May 2008. I've been working on average 45 hours a week on a normal working day, and that is on record. I didn't even bother to count the hours I worked off the record. And no, there is no such thing as overtime for me. I also have to juggle multiple projects within my portfolio, some of which can be totally different from one another.

If I am working on 34.6 hours a week, I believe my life would have been so much happier and I could spend more time on my family, my hobbies and the things I love doing. Now, it seems that my working days are fully occupied by work, and my weekends are occupied by housework. Where is the life in this?

Don't tell me about working for my future. What's the use of working for your future if you're not enjoying the present?

Human Progress

I quote from Wynton Marsalis:

Maybe the preoccupation with technological progress has overshadowed our concern with human progress.

Coming from a person in the technology line, I can vouch that technological progress is not even correlated with human progress. We as humans, the way we behave, are all based on our individual choices. Do not blame the external factors or the environment around you. It's your choice. It has always been.