Snow in November, 18 degrees Celsius in December

This year Tokyo had its first snow on November 24; the first November snow since 1962! The temperature was lowest at around 2 degC. On the contrary, on the December 4, my friends and I went to climb Myojougatake near Gora and Miyagino. The temperature was as high as 18 degC - big swing in temperature.

If you like hiking with a lesser crowd than that in Takao san, I would recommend Myojougatake. The trainfrom Tokyo to Gora via Hakone Yumoto is approximately 2 hours. On the August 18 of every year, a bonfire of 大文字, can be seen flaming as part of sending away the spirits of the deceased during お盆.

The entrance to the mountain is about15 minutes walk from the Gora train station. You can see the large 大文字 character from afar.

 The normal paced hike up to ~900m takes about 70 minutes. Glimpses of Fujisan.

 My friends brought Bunsen burners and pots to make udon, kimichi soup and houtou for lunch.

 On a good weather day like this, lunch can be accompanied by the view of Fujisan. It was splendid indeed!

 One can view Gora and Miyagino from the lunch spot.

 Ichimanbei Buddhisht temple on the way down from Tonomine. I was told that there are only three of such temples in Japan. Would need to verify that. 

70 minutes hike up and another 95 + 30  minutes hike to Tonomine and to Hakone Yumoto Station. My leg muscles ached for 4 days after the hike. I must remember to constantly go for long hikes like this..

Showa Kinen Park

Showa Kinen Park is not too far from Tokyo. If you take the Chuo Rapid train from Shinjuku, it takes only 33 minutes. There is an entry fee of 410 Yen, slightly more expensive than the entry fee for Shinjuku Gyoen,

Today is a public holiday in Japan, which coincides with the Culture Day. I was lucky to catch the last day of the Cosmos Flower Festival. Beautiful magenta, yellow and white cosmos at the park. There were also some dahlias. It was a sunny day day and the blue sky made a good backdrop for photos.

Near the Tachikawa Entrance of the park are rows of beautiful ginko trees that turn golden in colour as the sunset rays shine on the leaves. Autumn has begun!

Yellow Skin Apple - トキ

The sweetest apple I have ever eaten! Grown in Aomori. Eaten in Tokyo.
トキ is a hybrid of Ourin and Fuji apples.

My favourite fruit in summer - peach!

There are many fruits that I enjoy in Japan. My favourite in summer is definitely 桃 (Japanese peach). This fruit can be red or light yellow and has fine hairs on its skin. The flesh is extremely juicy and sweet when it is ripe. I have been advised not to refrigerate the fruit for too long as the taste will change. Best to eat it at room temperature.

These 白糖桃 are from Okayama Prefecture. It costs about 1600 yen for a box of three. Peaches from Yamanashi Prefecture are also famous in Japan.　

Fruit agar is also a popular dessert in summer. I made momo, blueberries and apple juice agar. It was quite easy to make and the agar (vegan) can be bought from supermarkets.

I also tried the melons from Furano in Hokkaido, recently. The texture of the melon's skin is different from the one's I usually have back home. The colour of its flesh is orange. The taste is definitely sweet and the fruit is juicy. I bought this at Farm Tomita, Furano for 300 Yen per slice.

さくらんぼ (sakuranbo) are also available in summer. Oh, how I love Japanese fruits!

Simple Arrabbiata Spaghetti and Stir-Fry Taugeh

My kitchen space is so small that I can only cook one-dish meals conveniently. I have been thinking about how to cook for a party in that small space. After making dinner, I thought that this could be one of the choices for main dish - organic Arrabbiata spaghetti. In order to remember the steps, I am writing this down.

Stir-fry chop garlic and dried 小エビ。Then add in cut yellow pepper and shiitake mushrooms. Pour in the Arrabbiata sauce and add black pepper at the end. I used whole-wheat spaghetti and it tastes really good!

Japan has a fascination with fish- or squid-cakes. Today, I stir-fried 'taugeh' (Hokkien for bean sprouts), ねぎ、carrots, cabbage, mushrooms and the eda-mame fish cake, with chopped garlic and oyster sauce. Pretty good too! Simple dishes makes a happy stomach and person.

Next up, I will try to make 'sambal' (Malay for chili paste) without the 'belacan' (Malay for dried shrimp paste) and apple-fruit juice jelly. Apparently, in summer, Japanese people likes to make transparent fruit jellies. I saw a grandma making the kiwi, peach, and apple fruit jelly on the television today - inspired.

Excellent Japanese Course Dinner near to Ookayama Station

I have been to Satou a Japanese Restaurant near to Ookayama Station in 2013. I had a 10-course Japanese dinner there, which was excellent! I went there again tonight. I am delighted to find out that the restaurant is now featured in the Michelin Guide for 2016. Tonight the course started with a cold appetiser (summer season), an assorted dist of salad and boiled fish, sashimi, pumpkin soup with spring onions, grilled fish, boiled prawns with wakame and young pumpkin, vegetable tempura, Niigata chicken and ginger、 and rice with miso soup. The dessert was melon (Hokkaido) and matcha cream. I have Hakaisan Sake (Niigata) and Umeshu. Happy stomach makes a happy person :)

I did not take any pictures tonight as I wanted to concentrate speaking in Japanese with my hosts. But I took some photos of the food in Spring 2013. Enjoy!

Tadaima!

Back in Tokyo for the next nine months. Arrived on the first of July. I have stayed for almost two weeks. Time flies. This time I notice the temperature and humidity and shall note them here. Feels dryer than in KL and the wind is slightly cool. Most of the evenings, I can sleep just with the windows opened. If I need to turn on the air conditioner, the temperature would be set at 28 degrees Celsius.

The trees are all green in summer.  The street right in front of the EEI  building covered by ginko trees.




Hydreangeas a.k.a ajisai.