We started today with a traditional Japanese set breakfast. The breakfast was pretty good, and there was a lot of food. We got fresh fruit juice of the day, which was apple juice, and some very nice-tasting tea. The set menu breakfast came with a choice of steamed rice with miso soup, roasted seaweed, and Japanese pickles or rice porridge with young soybean inside and salty-simmered stalk of taro, salty kelp, and salt-pickled ume (Japanese apricot). Those were all copied from the menu, so I don't know what some of them are. Tiffy and I both got the steamed rice.
The main dish was shirouri (pickling onion) and jellyfish; herring, deep-fried eggplant, freeze-dried tofu, shiitame mushroom, and field peas, all sitting in this slightly sweet sauce; roasted salmon, Japanese omelet, fish cake, and wasabi preserved in sake lees (not sure what that means). I think the most interesting thing was that the miso had little clams inside... I wasn't expecting to hear clanking when I stirred the miso o__o;
And yes, I actually ate all that fish. Aren't you proud XP
Our 'dessert' was a choice of coffee or akane tea, which is made from azuki (Japanese red bean). We both chose akane, which really tasted like red bean water. I kind of expected it to be sweet because I'm used to red bean soup being sweetened ^ ^; It was good, though~
On the way to Hakone/Owakudani, we made a stop at an area with a convenience store. Tiffy and I decided to get some drinks for the trip and a salty snack ^ ^ Tiffy got Lipton chocolate milk tea, which was surprisingly light and good, and I got this interesting Asian pear drink that was too sweet and very pear-ish. We also got these Japanese chips that look like mini Pringles~
On the mountain near the sulphur springs, we also got some eggs that were cooked in the springs. If you eat one, you should get +7 to life years. We shared a pack (they came in a pack of 5) with Matt, Tracy, and Mike. So now Tiffy and I will live at least 7 years longer :3 The reason why the shells are black is because the calcium in the egg shells reacts with the sulphur. They had an interesting subtle taste, but it wasn't very different -- they just tasted like hard-boiled eggs, really.
We went to lunch right after our lake cruise at a western buffet place inside of a hotel. It was our first time eating with everyone, and we spent almost the whole time talking about anime XD The food was interesting; I thought the selection was a bit sparse compared to the hotels we have been staying in. Otherwise, it was pretty good ^ ^
Oh, and that cup of pink stuff? Next time you go to the restaurant, you should try it. Definitely.
Not. Don't eat that stuff.
Tiffy tricked me, because I went to the restroom and was then late in coming into the room with my food because the lines were kind of long for the buffet. She told me everyone who had tried it liked it, but I could tell she was lying to me >O It's so pretty and pink and fluffy, but don't let its appearance fool you -- that thing is not dessert. It's called beet mousse, or something, and it's salty. Otherwise tasteless, but yeah... no.
Anyways... I think the desserts were really more amusing from lunch:
The main dish was shirouri (pickling onion) and jellyfish; herring, deep-fried eggplant, freeze-dried tofu, shiitame mushroom, and field peas, all sitting in this slightly sweet sauce; roasted salmon, Japanese omelet, fish cake, and wasabi preserved in sake lees (not sure what that means). I think the most interesting thing was that the miso had little clams inside... I wasn't expecting to hear clanking when I stirred the miso o__o;
And yes, I actually ate all that fish. Aren't you proud XP
Our 'dessert' was a choice of coffee or akane tea, which is made from azuki (Japanese red bean). We both chose akane, which really tasted like red bean water. I kind of expected it to be sweet because I'm used to red bean soup being sweetened ^ ^; It was good, though~
On the way to Hakone/Owakudani, we made a stop at an area with a convenience store. Tiffy and I decided to get some drinks for the trip and a salty snack ^ ^ Tiffy got Lipton chocolate milk tea, which was surprisingly light and good, and I got this interesting Asian pear drink that was too sweet and very pear-ish. We also got these Japanese chips that look like mini Pringles~
On the mountain near the sulphur springs, we also got some eggs that were cooked in the springs. If you eat one, you should get +7 to life years. We shared a pack (they came in a pack of 5) with Matt, Tracy, and Mike. So now Tiffy and I will live at least 7 years longer :3 The reason why the shells are black is because the calcium in the egg shells reacts with the sulphur. They had an interesting subtle taste, but it wasn't very different -- they just tasted like hard-boiled eggs, really.
We went to lunch right after our lake cruise at a western buffet place inside of a hotel. It was our first time eating with everyone, and we spent almost the whole time talking about anime XD The food was interesting; I thought the selection was a bit sparse compared to the hotels we have been staying in. Otherwise, it was pretty good ^ ^
Oh, and that cup of pink stuff? Next time you go to the restaurant, you should try it. Definitely.
Not. Don't eat that stuff.
Tiffy tricked me, because I went to the restroom and was then late in coming into the room with my food because the lines were kind of long for the buffet. She told me everyone who had tried it liked it, but I could tell she was lying to me >O It's so pretty and pink and fluffy, but don't let its appearance fool you -- that thing is not dessert. It's called beet mousse, or something, and it's salty. Otherwise tasteless, but yeah... no.
Anyways... I think the desserts were really more amusing from lunch:
The ice cream is soft cream (?) on top, raspberry sorbet in the middle, and vanilla bean on the bottom.
Stuff stuff... something happened, and then we went to the hot springs and had our long-awaited karaoke dinner :3 (I'm typing this like 3 days after so I forgot what we did in the middle.... Actually... maybe we didn't really do anything o__o) Anyways...
Dinner was in the hotel, in a pretty tatami room with a karaoke machine. We sat on the floor (and attempted to sit pretty Japanese style, but only Maiko-san actually managed to stay in that position) and had several rounds of food. I'll let the photos talk, because they're more interesting ^ ^;
I don't remember what this was, but it tasted like mashed potatoes.
Sashimi: squid, tuna, two other kinds of fish, and shrimp.
Chicken cooked in a miso sauce (I think) ^ ^
Melon was our dessert. Did you know melons can cost a lot in Japan? It was pretty and cold, and sweet. Pretty good ^ ^
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