Since I can't possibly sum up my adventures in Japan in a single paragraph, I'm tackling it in sections. First up, the food (of course).
As expected, traveling through Japan was a gastronomic delight. During our stay in Kyoto, I fell in love with kaiseki once again. Kaiseki is a traditional Japanese meal that consists of multiple courses made from the freshest seasonal ingredients. Flavor aside, each dish is a feast for the eyes. Every color, every texture, every bowl, plate and garnish is selected with great care. In short, the meticulous way in which the food is presented makes the meal almost too pretty to eat. But failure to do so would mean missing out on the wonderfully layered flavors with each course. True to form, the kaiseki-style dinner that was served in our Kyoto ryokan (Japanese inn), definitely did not disappoint!
On the second leg of our trip, we headed north to Hokkaido and were greeted with cool, brisk weather...perfect conditions for a bowl of hot ramen (or two!). Friends of ours had already clued us in on the rich, creamy dairy products found in Sapporo so we also filled up on ice cream (and lots of it). A quick visit to the Sapporo Beer Factory was the perfect respite after a long day of sightseeing and allowed us to scientifically perform side-by-side taste testing of Sapporo's finest brews. A night of all-you-can-eat lamb (and beer) was the perfect way to cap off our first day in the city.
The third and final leg of our trip was spent in Okinawa. As most tourists do, we stayed in Naha and walked along the famous Kokusai-dori. This street, lined heavily with souvenir shops and restaurants, reminded me a lot of International Marketplace in Waikiki...that is, until I saw the snakes. Just a block away from our hotel, we saw rows and rows of habu snakes sitting pretty in their jars of awamori. Awamori is an Okinawan liquor made from distilled rice and the habu is a venomous snake believed to have medicinal purposes. Put those two things together, and you've got a big jar o' awamori (also referred to as habu sake). If my brother had not ordered awamori with his dinner on our first evening, I probably wouldn't have tried it. But I did...and it's not the drink for me.
I failed to mention the massive amounts of snack foods we consumed during our trip, mostly because we are still consuming them (and feeling a little guilty about our sweet indulgences). I also didn't write about our favorite vending machines. Perhaps another day when I'm dreaming about Japanese food.
On the second leg of our trip, we headed north to Hokkaido and were greeted with cool, brisk weather...perfect conditions for a bowl of hot ramen (or two!). Friends of ours had already clued us in on the rich, creamy dairy products found in Sapporo so we also filled up on ice cream (and lots of it). A quick visit to the Sapporo Beer Factory was the perfect respite after a long day of sightseeing and allowed us to scientifically perform side-by-side taste testing of Sapporo's finest brews. A night of all-you-can-eat lamb (and beer) was the perfect way to cap off our first day in the city.
The third and final leg of our trip was spent in Okinawa. As most tourists do, we stayed in Naha and walked along the famous Kokusai-dori. This street, lined heavily with souvenir shops and restaurants, reminded me a lot of International Marketplace in Waikiki...that is, until I saw the snakes. Just a block away from our hotel, we saw rows and rows of habu snakes sitting pretty in their jars of awamori. Awamori is an Okinawan liquor made from distilled rice and the habu is a venomous snake believed to have medicinal purposes. Put those two things together, and you've got a big jar o' awamori (also referred to as habu sake). If my brother had not ordered awamori with his dinner on our first evening, I probably wouldn't have tried it. But I did...and it's not the drink for me.
I failed to mention the massive amounts of snack foods we consumed during our trip, mostly because we are still consuming them (and feeling a little guilty about our sweet indulgences). I also didn't write about our favorite vending machines. Perhaps another day when I'm dreaming about Japanese food.