Day 5 - Journey of special day from Isawa Onsen through Tokyo to Kyoto

D5 - 23 September 2018

Last delicious Japanese breakfast set from Ryukan Kikori - Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

Two days were spent beautifully at Fuefuki-shi - Yamanashi Prefecture area, a small town full of grapes. It was time to move back to city area. The breakfast was beautiful and delicious as usual, one of my favorite things from Ryokan Kikori. Thank you for your wonderful services that had been rendered during our stay.

Bye bye Isawa-Onsen. Hope to see you again one day... :D

There was a shuttle bus provided by the hotel to send the guest to the Isawa-Onsen train station free of charge. We took it there and waited for our train - first to Tokyo station, then to Kyoto (there was no direct train from Isawa-Onsen to Kyoto, that was why we had to go back to Tokyo first).

Assorted character bento at Tokyo main station, Japan

In Tokyo, we waited for about an hour before continuing the next train journey to Kyoto and while waiting, we purchased our lunch bento box and other snacks. There were so many varieties available. However, I preferred to go to the Character Ekiben corner and chose the special bento box. I was hesitating to choose the Shinkansen box or cartoon character box. Too bad there was no Doraemon, my favorite cartoon. Therefore, I chose something else :D

Celebrated my special day on Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto :)

Dadadada.... hehehehehe... :D At the end I chose Hello Kitty bento box instead of Shinkansen one simply because of the shape. It was more practical to re-use the Hello Kitty bento box for the future packed lunch rather than the long shape Shinkansen, and also it was rather cuter :D Kawaiii!!!! ;)

Anpanman - Another Japanese cute cartoon character bento box purchased by my travel mate :)

I had it with a Daiwa can (world's first premium wines in new bottle can technology launched in Japan back in year 2008). The company - Monde Distilleries, Ltd., at Yamanashi Prefecture - also developed a matching drinking cup, which attached to the canned wine. I saw it first from inside the JR-East (East Japan Railway Company) catalog. And when it was also available at the shop where I bought the bento, I thought of trying it out :) I chose the white wine and it tasted good, was very happy with it. Both the bento and the wine really made my day!!! Thank you SB! :)

Shinkansen N700 from Tokyo to Kyoto - Japan

It took 2 hours and 17 minutes from Tokyo to Kyoto by the Shinkansen Nozomi N700 (the fastest train service running on Shinkansen lines in Japan with a speed of 300 km/hour). It cost 10,480 yen (S$130) per single trip.

Beautiful scenery along the Shinkansen ride from Tokyo to Kyoto - Japan

It was supposed to be autumn, but the weather was still quite hot and sometimes it rained. The fields were yellowish from afar while trees were still in green. Once reached Kyoto, we walked to our hotel (located within walking distance from the Kyoto train station), checked in, put our luggage in, and we went out again (as not to waste our precious time) to our next destination - Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

Kiyomizu-dera - Kyoto, Japan 

Kiyomizu-dera was one of the must visit places in Kyoto. It was very crowded, but the day we went was even more crowded as the day after was coincidentally Tsukimi or Otsukimi (moon-viewing day as it would be a bright full-moon day) or also called a Mid-Autumn Festival.

Nio-mon (main gate), Zuigu-do Hall, and Sai-mon (west gate) of Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist Temple in Kyoto, Japan

The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto UNESCO World Heritage site. It was founded in year 778 but the present building was constructed back in 1633. Many tourists wearing kimono visited this place. Too bad we came too early. If we came a month later, the leaves surrounding the temple would have changed color beautifully (autumn red-yellow leaves). You had to purchase ticket to enter. Each ticket cost 400 yen (S$5) for adult and 200 yen (S$2.50) for child.

The deity Kannon-san - Goddess of Mercy/Compassion - Kiyomizu-dera Temple (Pic source: Kiyomizu-dera website)

The temple where Kannon (Kwan Im) - the Goddess of Compassion or Mercy with eleven faces and forty-two arms - located was still under renovation, but devotees were still allowed to enter, to convey their wishes and prayers. She was worshiped by pious people who wished for worldly benefits, such as: good health, success, and romantic relationship.

Inside the Hondo (main hall) of Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist Temple in Kyoto, Japan

Devotees queued in a line passing by the altar praying for deities, then sitting towards deity Kannon-san, conveying prayer in kneel-down position, and hitting the open metal container that produced bell-sound like. After that moving to the next place, continued with prayer and you could drop a coin as offering to the deities.

Otowa no taki (Otowa Waterfall) at Kiyomizu-dera Temple - Kyoto, Japan

Beneath the main hall there was the Otowa no taki or Otowa Waterfall, where the three streams of water fall into a pond, where you could catch with ladle, drink the water, pray for purification of your six senses, and make your wishes come true. The clear gushing waters "Konjiki-sui” (golden water) or “Enmei-sui” (life-prolonging water) was deemed suitable to use in purification.

If you want to find out more about the origin of this sacred temple, click here.

Snack and shops at Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, Japan

Once done, we walked back towards the main road. We passed through many shops selling local snacks (mochi or Japanese rice cake, green tea/black sesame ice cream -  a must try!!!, pickles, sesame/ chili powder, Japanese whiskey, etc.) and souvenirs. The famous world's first tatami style Starbucks Cafe was also located in the area (Nineizaka street). It was closed by the time I reached there, too bad!

Ramen Iroha for dinner - Kyoto, Japan

We went back to Kyoto main station and had our dinner there. We went upstairs all the way to level 10 to have our Japanese ramen. There were so many ramen shops, also other cafe and restaurant available. Some had a very long queue. We chose to eat at Menya Iroha. They used to win at the Tokyo Ramen Show back in year 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014. We had the spicy ramen this time, but after having it, I preferred having non-spicy with more cashew (sliced pork meat) on it. The noodle was chewy and springy though, to my liking. Next time maybe ;)

My Birthday cake this year - a very delicious chocolate Nutella (hazelnut) cake!!! Yayy!!! :)

After dinner, I went back to hotel. I was given a surprised Birthday cake by my travel companions. Thank you very much for the celebration!!! I was very grateful for your effort and time given to make my day memorable, and the cake was really delicious!!!

With my loved ones - the reason why I joined the trip :)

Yeah, let me reveal some of my travel companions for this trip!!! :) Both of them were the reason why I joined this trip. Actually all of them had planned it in advance and I was the last minute participant who joined the group. When I knew that the travel period and my Birthday would fall concurrently, I thought it was a great opportunity to spend my special day with my both dear parents. As a youngest in the family, I felt proud and happy to be able to spend the day together with them, also with the rest of the people whom I knew very well throughout my life.

The fact that I supposed no longer young would not change who I am. I think, I am still the same silly childish woman as I was many years ago, except that I have gone through more things in life, experienced various life events, which forced me to learn to be better and wiser (hopefully so).

My heartfelt gratitude to my both parents. Thank you Pa and Ma!!! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! :)
(Pic source: Google.com)

Well, thank you once again Pa, Ma, for asking me along to this trip, and for raising me up since I was still inside Mom's stomach. I would never be able to pay back what you both had done for me in this lifetime. I still often made you both angry or unhappy, but I would do my best to give back what I could with my time and effort. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!! :)

So, this was not the end of our journey yet, I would come out with few more posts. Stay tune lah!!! :)

Day 4 - Visit to L'Orient Japanese Winery - Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

D4 - 22 September 2018

Japanese breakfast set at Ryukan Kikori - Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture

I started a new day with a well-prepared Japanese breakfast set from the hotel. Unlike other countries, Japanese served their dishes in various shapes and sizes of bowls, putting each dishes separately. They even provided the small stove and pan to fry the ham and egg right in front of you.

I mean, if western style, they tried to do things efficiently by cooking the egg at one corner with one staff attending to the task, so they did not have to provide so many stoves with so many pans catered to each guest. Anyway, I enjoyed the way they prepared it, plus the food tasted delicious. I had a cup of coffee at the lobby afterwards so that I could be fully ready to walk outside!!! :)

Beautiful nature and decoration surrounded where I stayed - Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture

It was still early so I decided to walk around the hotel area alone. There was nothing better than having me-alone time, my favorite time while traveling. Just walked around, noticed the beautiful nature and the surrounding, took some photos, and just breathed, and smiled with my own thought.

The river behind the hotel area - Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture

I loved walking by the river. The flow of the water gave me a peaceful feeling, serene. The road was quiet with only few cars passing by. Seemed like it was not a peak season in the area. While passing by the hotel, I occasionally saw few Japanese hotel staffs bowing down to send their guests off (by vehicle) - see the photo above. It was the way they felt grateful for their visitation and wished them a safe journey to their next destination.

I was just thinking, in Singapore, this would very hardly be seen as many hotels were under staff (one staff would have to do many jobs at the same time e.g. front office cum housekeeper cum bell boy cum night audit cum manager, and so on).

L'Orient Japanese Winery - Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

At 10 am we left and visited one of the Japanese winery available near the area. By cab, it cost about 2,170 yen (S$27) per one way. It was pretty expensive but convenient and fast. They had a shop in front where guest would usually enter and visit.

L'Orient Japanese Winery

They displayed their variety of wines produced with list of awards they received. The price list was there too if you want to buy. Wine accessories, snacks, etc. were also available for sale.

L'Orient Japanese Winery

Fresh grapes and varieties of wines were available for tasting. Some were free, some were payable between 300 to 500 yen per glass, depending on which wine that you wanted to test. There were about 4 wines for free tasting and grape juice. Two of them were sweet, I liked them. I tasted the Katsunuma Koshu wine (world silver award wine) and although not sweet, it was very flavorful and fragrant. I bought one bottle back home :)

With the owner cum President of L'Orient Japanese Winery - Mr. Takao Uchida

The above was the owner cum President of the winery - Mr. Takao Uchida. He welcomed us and showed us around towards the wine farm where he grew the grapes.

L'Orient Japanese Winery - Grapes farm at Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

The above was the grapes farm. He gave us two bundles of grapes (green and purple grape - one bundle each) as his appreciation for our intentional visit to his winery from faraway. Thank you Mr. Uchida. He also gave us 10% discount voucher that we could use when purchased any items in the shop.

L'Orient Japanese Winery at Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

L'Orient Japanese Winery at Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

He had to receive other group of guests. So he left us browsing the winery around ourselves. No one was there explaining things though. So we just walked around the area and mostly the production was using automated machine. Only few staffs were seen to run the machine and control the production.

Public foot bath using hot spring water at Isawa Onsen Station - Japan

Once done, we took cab back but instead of going back to the hotel, we went to Aeon shopping center located very near from Isawa-Onsen station. And before entering to the mall, we stopped at the public foot bath using hot spring water just nearby there (see the photo above). Wow!! It was so shiokkk!!! Meaning, very comfortable!!! There was a roof on top. And although the sun was quite hot, the air was cooling. Soaking legs inside was one of the best things to do to relax and enjoy. I wished we had such thing here in Singapore (and if it really existed, I guessed many people would not only soak their legs inside, but the whole body in hahahahahaha.... :P)

Japanese lunch inside the Aeon shopping center - Isawa-Onsen Station, Japan

Inside Aeon, there was supermarket, department store, Lotteria (fast food outlet), and many other stores available. We decided to choose what we wanted to have - the prepared Japanese food - from the supermarket. The above picture was what I chose for my lunch - assorted Sushi, assorted Croquettes (bread-crumbed fried roll), and a can of Asahi beer :D I was very full!!!

To let the food digest, we continued our free time by walking around the area and shopping :)

Dinner at Ryokan Kikori - Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

We went back to hotel at around 3 pm. We packed our luggage and had a rest until around 4.30 pm. Again, I soaked myself at the hotel hot spring bath and took a bath there. We then had our dinner at 6 pm. Another Japanese dinner set was prepared and we opened a bottle of white wine that we bought earlier in the morning. The dishes were all fresh and nicely decorated. I felt very pampered with it. Simply beautiful and delicious!!! :)

Oyasumi nasai - See you again.. Good night :)

And like the other night, we had a walk after dinner outside and then it was time to sleep. As we had to leave early the next morning, therefore there was no continuous tea or wine chatting time after that. So, let me bid farewell here and see you again at the next post. Oyasumi nasai... (meaning: see you again.. good night!!!)

Day 3 - Rejuvenating day at Fuefuki-shi - Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

D3 - 21 September 2018

Japanese cum International style buffet breakfast :)

Started my third day by having Japanese cum International buffet breakfast, which was included in the hotel rates. Loved the plate they provided to put the various dishes separately (see the photo above). And before moving on to the main topic, let me share few things that I found interesting in the restaurant and hotel that I stayed at in this post.

Card provided by the restaurant to 'chop' the table - Hotel Gracery Ginza - Tokyo, Japan

In Singapore, Singaporean usually 'chop' their table at hawker center or food court using tissue packet. But there, they used the card above as it wasn't uncommon for Japanese and other guest to dine alone.

When the blue card was presented on top of the table, it meant the table was free. And once the guest decided where to sit and in order not to let other guest occupying their table while they were walking around taking the food at buffet counter, they just had to flip the card up and changed the status of the table to 'occupied.' Wasn't it convenient? And as a guest, I would feel very much comfortable leaving my table to take another round of food.

'No room make up' gifts selection at Hotel Gracery Ginza - Tokyo, Japan

Next, was the above card. The housekeeping staff placed it on top of the bed so that guest would notice once they went inside the room. However, I took it for granted - ignored about the information that they tried to convey and just placed the card on top of the table without even had a look on it :D Well, I thought it was just a normal card informing the guest that the minibar items displayed on the card would be available upon calling the staff at receptionist. I only knew about the card's purpose when someone mentioned it to me the next day. Hahaha... :P

You could read the information on the picture clearly there and for me, I found it very interesting lah, the way the hotel tried cutting their operational cost and at the same time, they could give some rewards or souvenir back to the hotel's guest. Something to learn for hoteliers!!! ;)

Add-on facility provided by the Hotel Gracery Ginza - Tokyo, Japan

Next one was the item above. Well, our room size was quite small actually, typical Japanese hotel. Only limited extra space available for walking. Despite that, they still squeezed in such a small sofa at the corner of the room. My roommate tried sitting at the sofa upon our arrival and felt kind of weird why the pillow provided was hard to lean on, very unusual. Therefore, that time onward, we did not use the sofa much.

Until again, the last day of my stay, someone told us that 'it' was actually a back massager (an instrument or device designed to massage the body). Lol!!! How unobservant I was, wasn't I??? Could miss out many things from inside the room. Unbelievable!!! :D

Typical Japanese umbrella - transparent one!!! :D

The rain continued since the day before. Luckily I always prepared an umbrella with me so I was pretty protected from rain and sun wherever I went. I did not know about you, but I found it very interesting to see Japanese using the transparent umbrella (see the photo above). They only had the long umbrella with stick for this type of material and if I was not wrong, the price was quite affordable. I had seen them using it since my first visit back in 1989 and was still very much awed with it :)

Fuefuki-shi location in Japan's map (Source: Google map)

We took cab to Shinjuku Station where we would take our JR (Japan Rail) train to Isawa-Onsen, which was located at Yamanashi prefecture. The station was pretty big with many exit gates on it. Just take note, in the case you came separately with your travel mates, be sure to tell the cab driver which exit gate you wanted to be dropped at, because if you were dropped in the different one, you had to walk one big round (inconveniently - since you carried the big luggage with you) to reach the right one, and it happened to me. Luckily I met the security staff who could speak English and able to tell me the best way to reach.

Bento shop at Shinjuku station - Tokyo, Japan

One thing I loved in Japan train station was that they had many shops selling Japanese bento (a single portion take-out or home-packed meal usually packed in a box). They allowed food and beverage to be consumed inside the train since the journey was pretty long when traveling to other city. But most often than not, the food served was cold. Those loved hot food might not like this concept.

Mouth watering bento display selection :)

The above was displayed and available for sale. They were lovely, weren't they? There was even Shinkansen lunch box mainly prepared for children or for foreigners where they could keep the box as souvenir :) Japanese were very meticulous in preparing their dishes. I was often amazed by their patience and passion. For them, the look and color combination of the food was important. It was not only to look presentable, but also to taste good!!!

Snacks for short period traveling in Japan :)

Since I just had our breakfast buffet at the hotel and our train journey would only be a one-and-half hour ride, I got myself an onigiri (a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or cylindrical shapes and often wrapped in nori/seaweed) with chilled milk tea while my roommate having sandwich and hot green tea. We both had baumkuchen cake as a snack as well :)

Enjoyed my train ride from Shijuku, Tokyo to Isawa Onsen, Yamanashi :)

I got a window seat so I could enjoy the scenery better. It was still raining but the view was still beautiful! :)

Ryokan Kikori - Fuefuki-shi, Japan

Once reached Isawa Onsen station, we took a cab to the hotel called Ryokan Kikori - a traditional Japan hotel mostly made of wood, designed like in old samurai era. It was two-storey high. The hotel rates included breakfast and dinner. One person rate was around S$250 per night (it meant a room for 2 would cost S$500 per night).

Inside the traditional Japanese hotel room - Ryokan Kikori, Japan

The room was actually very simple. It was a tatami base (a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms, traditionally made using rice straw to form the core). During daytime they would put a table and low-seat chairs in the main area (see the above picture), and at night (after we went for dinner), the room would have already been set up with futon (Japanese bed). The rooms were divided using paper sliding door, typical Japanese set-up, which you could often see on TV (or Doraemon cartoon series) :P

Ichifuji grape orchards - Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi prefecture - Japan

We put our luggage and soon headed to the main destination of this trip - Ichifuji grape orchards :) Grapes were in the season!!!

Grapes, grapes and grapes!!! :D Love Japan!!!

This area was famous and perfect to grow grapes, be it for consumption and also for winery. These were the two types of grapes and their trees were quite different. The tree as you saw in above picture, consisted of one tall tree with so many branches on top and grew so many grapes on it, while the one for winery was short one and planted many at each row.

Japanese grapes tasted very different from any other grapes from other parts of the world. I had never eaten such a delicious grape like this before. Only then I understood why some people would deliberately visited Japan yearly just to indulge themselves with it!!!

Muscat or Pione??? Both were equally nice!!! :)

The size of the grape was quite big (even bigger than my thumb). Its meat was firm, but tasted sweet and very succulent. It reminded me the taste of the grapes gummy that Japan usually produced. So now I knew where the grape taste came from.

The green one that I was holding was Muscat type. 1 kg was sold at 2,500 yen (S$31.25). There were different types of green grapes available though, but the best one that this orchard offered and the most expensive one was this type, and amazingly, no seed inside!!! In Singapore it was available too in supermarket. For 350 gr grapes, it cost S$35 or for 1 kg, it cost around S$85 (the price was very expensive due to air-flown transport and other import cost).

The purple color one was called Pione. It was similar type with Kyoho grape. The texture of this grapes were different with Muscat. Its skin was thick and the meat was melting in the mouth. This one with seed though. But still, pretty nice. I loved it too!!! :) 1 kg cost 1,250 yen (S$15.60).

With the Ichifuji grape orchards' owner :)

The shop provided service to send grapes to other city in Japan too. You just had to tell the owner which grapes, how many kg, when and where to send, and they would calculate the postage cost together with the grapes cost right away. Apart from fresh grapes, they were also selling grape jam, grape juice (in bottle - from L'Orient winery) and sweet dessert wine (also from L'Orient winery). We bought them altogether for the consumption in the hotel :)

Apart from the grape samples that they gave away, we had more grapes and took it as our lunch. Wow!!! I never had grapes as lunch before! Hahaha.... So I was very grateful for that!!! Thank you!!! :)

More grapes at owner's orchards near her house - Ichifuji orchards in Fuefuki-shi, Yamanashi prefecture - Japan

After finished having grapes lunch and done with ordering thing, the owner brought us to her grapes orchards, located near from her house. She said the grape season was usually last only for 3 months in a year. We came at the right time!!! Well, the trip was planned only to eat this actually :D So, it was perfect!!! :)

Persimmon!!!

At the road junction near to owner's house, there was this persimmon tree belong to somebody. There were many fruits on it. Amazingly, the fruits were intact on its branch like what you saw in above picture. I mean, if this tree was located in Indonesia, all the fruits would have long gone hahaha... When I saw it, my evil mind was even saying, "Why don't you pick some secretly and put them inside your bag??" hahaha... especially when the price of persimmon was expensive in Japan (1 piece cost 500 yen or S$6.25). But I managed to get rid of that mind :P So imagine those people who stayed around the area! Their integrity level must be very strong! Hahaha... Heads off to Japanese!!! :)

Isawa Onsen Spa - Ryukan Kikori at Fuefuki-shi - Yamanashi prefecture, Japan

We went back to hotel. There was still some time before dinner time so we decided to soak ourselves at the hot spring water pool that the hotel provided. The hotel had 2 places to soak. The above picture was taken at the other side of the building. The one I went to looked pretty similar, except for the pool shape, which was bigger and covered fully.

Just like other onsen (Japanese hot spring) spa, they usually provided similar facilities, such as: rattan basket to put clothes (guest had to be naked inside the pool area - only small towel was allowed and usually to be put on top of the head), bathing area (guest had to shower before and after soaking; all amenities like shampoo, soap, and  conditioner were usually provided), dry room (place to do your make up, dry and comb your hair, etc. plus resting place - foot massager was sometimes available). Some place even had sauna.

I soaked myself in. The water was warm with temperature ranges from 38 to 42 degree Celsius. It removed all the tiredness from the body and loosen up the muscles. You would feel a little lethargic afterwards, but it was common. I wore kimono (provided by the hotel) after that, which would then be worn continuously until sleeping time.

Traditional Japanese dinner at Ryukan Kikori - Fuefuki-shi at Yamanashi prefecture, Japan

Dinner was served at 6 pm. It was 8-course of traditional Japanese dinner serving variety of food from seafood salad, chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), cold tamago (Japanese sweet egg), cold soba or buckwheat noodle, fried cuttlefish ball with raw chili, steamed sliced pork meat, and finally the dessert - grapes jelly with whipped cream. All tasted so delicious and I finished every bit of it :)

Around the hotel with their olden time decoration - Ryukan Kikori at Fuefuki-shi - Yamanashi prefecture, Japan

With full stomach, it was only suitable to have a walk and little exercise inside and surrounded the hotel. The hotel had an alley where they kept many antics from olden times, which brought back many memories from the past :) So, still wearing the beautiful kimono, I did not want to miss the chance by clicking many pictures with it :D

Outdoor view - Ryukan Kikori

Guest was allowed to walk outside the hotel with their kimono too. They were even provided with geta (Japanese wooden slipper). The weather was a bit cool and you could see the mist derived from the steamed hot spring water from underneath the ground. It was so nice!!!

Beautiful full moon at the night sky - Fuefuki-shi at Yamanashi prefecture, Japan

The surrounding area was quiet and peaceful. At the back of the hotel, there was a river where you could have a peaceful time walking on its side with full moon up there accompanied your journey.

Grapes feast one more time to close our relaxing day!!! Yay!!! :)

After returned back to hotel, I gathered and had hearty chit chat with the rest, finishing the second bottle of the wine and munching on grapes once again to close our relaxing day sweetly :) Felt very grateful for everything and thank you to you know who you are for making this trip happened!!! Stay tune for the next post!!! Keep reading! :)