September 8th marked four years for Dede and I, so I decided on taking a trip to Takayama for the weekend. I had been wanting to go there ever since moving to Gifu. It's quite famous for it's old preserved town area.
The day before leaving, Dede's present to me arrived. It was a brand new Nikon D5100! I was quite excited to get it, because I have been relying on Dede's beautiful photos for my blog for most of the time I have been in Japan. Now I can make my own!
These are the first two photos I took outside of my window at home:
I know I have a lot to learn but it certainly looks better than my digital camera! Of course I will still use it, because lugging a DSLR around all the time is not always practical.
Anyway, back to our weekend!
The train ride took quite a while, perhaps three hours? We took the longest, but cheapest train there. I wasn't willing to pay extra for a quicker trip.
I'm quite happy with the river photo :)
When we arrived in Takayama, it was only a short walk to Ryokan Tanabe (traditional Japanese inn)
It doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside is really beautiful and modern.
The bathroom was really, really beautiful I think. I would like to have the same kind in my house someday...that being said, I didn't even use the bath. I ended up trying out the onsen. When I arrived there were two older women already there, but after I arrived they soon left, leaving it to me! There was an indoor bath, nothing special, outside there were two small, one person baths made of some kind of special stone. I wish I had been able to take a photo, but considering it a private area I wasn't able to. But it was so relaxing! I would have stayed longer, but I heard a woman's voice over the PA system. I wasn't sure what she was saying, so I thought I had better leave just in case it was closing or something.
We opted to have dinner at 6:30pm, so at around 6:20pm a lady came into our room to begin preparing. It truly was a feast.
I'm not a huge fan of soba; udon is my favourite, but this was delicious!
We chose the Hida beef course. Hida beef is from the northern region of Gifu, named Hida. It's quite famous Japan wide. Well, I'm only guessing, because it has won awards Japan wide for the past couple of years.
You cook it yourself on this hot plate thing. I actually saved it til last, when I was bursting from all the food. Maybe not the best idea...but the beef just melted in your mouth and had such a lovely flavour. If only there was more!
I'm not a big fan of asparagus either, but this was yummy.
More Hida beef, which was cooked as a soup.
Eggplant, with some kind of yellow sauce...I can't quite remember.
Octopus. Glad to say I tried it, it was bearable, but not delicious. I did not eat it all.
Dede and I decided the middle one was some kind of fish guts, as it looked very similar to the one we tried on my birthday. Luckily this one did not make me nearly vomit, and I was able to eat it! It was actually quite nice. Of course, being from the sea, I would not order it again.
More sea stuff. No thank you. I tried to eat it, but when there is skin and bones involved, it makes it much harder to stomach.
Sashimi! Something I actually like. I find it strange that I can't stand the majority of cooked fish, but when it comes to fresh, uncooked slices, I go crazy! So yummy.
Not sure...as I was nearing the end I realised I wouldn't be able to eat everything so I left this.
I ate this, shell fish and all. It wasn't too bad actually. It had a smoky flavour and I quite liked it, but I avoided looking at the shells directly.
All of those photos of me eating aren't really my best look, but what can you do! I'd just had a bath, no time to make myself pretty.
Day Two coming soon!
The day before leaving, Dede's present to me arrived. It was a brand new Nikon D5100! I was quite excited to get it, because I have been relying on Dede's beautiful photos for my blog for most of the time I have been in Japan. Now I can make my own!
These are the first two photos I took outside of my window at home:
I know I have a lot to learn but it certainly looks better than my digital camera! Of course I will still use it, because lugging a DSLR around all the time is not always practical.
Anyway, back to our weekend!
The train ride took quite a while, perhaps three hours? We took the longest, but cheapest train there. I wasn't willing to pay extra for a quicker trip.
I'm quite happy with the river photo :)
When we arrived in Takayama, it was only a short walk to Ryokan Tanabe (traditional Japanese inn)
It doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside is really beautiful and modern.
The bathroom was really, really beautiful I think. I would like to have the same kind in my house someday...that being said, I didn't even use the bath. I ended up trying out the onsen. When I arrived there were two older women already there, but after I arrived they soon left, leaving it to me! There was an indoor bath, nothing special, outside there were two small, one person baths made of some kind of special stone. I wish I had been able to take a photo, but considering it a private area I wasn't able to. But it was so relaxing! I would have stayed longer, but I heard a woman's voice over the PA system. I wasn't sure what she was saying, so I thought I had better leave just in case it was closing or something.
We opted to have dinner at 6:30pm, so at around 6:20pm a lady came into our room to begin preparing. It truly was a feast.
I'm not a huge fan of soba; udon is my favourite, but this was delicious!
We chose the Hida beef course. Hida beef is from the northern region of Gifu, named Hida. It's quite famous Japan wide. Well, I'm only guessing, because it has won awards Japan wide for the past couple of years.
You cook it yourself on this hot plate thing. I actually saved it til last, when I was bursting from all the food. Maybe not the best idea...but the beef just melted in your mouth and had such a lovely flavour. If only there was more!
I'm not a big fan of asparagus either, but this was yummy.
More Hida beef, which was cooked as a soup.
Eggplant, with some kind of yellow sauce...I can't quite remember.
Octopus. Glad to say I tried it, it was bearable, but not delicious. I did not eat it all.
Dede and I decided the middle one was some kind of fish guts, as it looked very similar to the one we tried on my birthday. Luckily this one did not make me nearly vomit, and I was able to eat it! It was actually quite nice. Of course, being from the sea, I would not order it again.
More sea stuff. No thank you. I tried to eat it, but when there is skin and bones involved, it makes it much harder to stomach.
Sashimi! Something I actually like. I find it strange that I can't stand the majority of cooked fish, but when it comes to fresh, uncooked slices, I go crazy! So yummy.
Not sure...as I was nearing the end I realised I wouldn't be able to eat everything so I left this.
I ate this, shell fish and all. It wasn't too bad actually. It had a smoky flavour and I quite liked it, but I avoided looking at the shells directly.
All of those photos of me eating aren't really my best look, but what can you do! I'd just had a bath, no time to make myself pretty.
Day Two coming soon!
Great photos of the scenery. Strange you took the train when you could have taken your Altia car.
ReplyDeleteIt was a little out of the 100km zone, just wanted to be safe :)
ReplyDelete