Our first home base was in Osaka. Right in Namba’s Dotonbori area. The aroma of food wafting from the food stalls and restos kept us going especially on our first night. We have made our wagyu dinner reservations but ended up in the wrong resto branch. And that’s after some time looking all over the place, scanning all the alleys. We were tempted to just skip it and instead check out the many ramen or yakitori or crab places but how can we give up on matsusaka beef 🥩? The staff in the “wrong branch” took us to the right outlet just a few meters away. Seemed like they’re used to guests getting lost or missing the right branch. The night ended well and we were satisfied with our first dinner in Osaka. 👌
Wagyu Dinner at Matsusaka-gyu MFushimi Inari Looking Empty of Visitors
Woke up early the next morning for a train ride to Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, but it seemed most everybody had the same “brilliant idea”. Walked all around until our knees went jello, then moved to Fushimi Inari where once more, a long line of visitors have already assembled. Alas, the gods smiled on us and we found a break in the line so we promptly took snapshots of the shrine’s vermilion gates looking empty. By the time we were done, we took the Keihan Line to Kyoto’s geisha district, Gion. This time, we failed to spot any geisha, geiko nor maiko. But we enjoyed Hanamikoji alley in peace as the sun set in Kyoto.
Another Tourist Trap: Arashiyama Bamboo ParkSundown in Gion District
Osaka and Kyoto are just 15 minutes apart via Shinkansen. So convenient. And from the JR Namba Station near our Osaka crib, we took the rapid express train to Nara Deer Park the next day. Just under an hour. Easy. But not as easy is the trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima. Took the 1.5 hour Shinkansen, the half-hour local train from Hiroshima to Miyajima and finally the 8 minute ferry ride to the island. But hey, if you have the time, and the JR Pass, it’s worth visiting. The pass is good for the Shinkansen, local train and ferry. Just make sure you don’t doze off on the ferry ride or you’d end up making a round trip!
Miyajima IslandNara Deer Park
On our way to Tokyo, we broke our journey in Kyoto for a quick visit to Kiyomizu-dera and to enjoy some Uji matcha delights. Suitcases left in the station’s coin lockers, we were off to take the local train from Kyoto Station to Kiyomizu-gojo via Tofukuji. The uphill climb from Exit 4 took a half hour. The thick crowd we met served no encouragement to truly explore this beautiful temple but we’re not complaining. Time enough for a visit and catching our late afternoon Shinkansen to our next crib, Tokyo. Watch this page for more of our adventures!
This 2022 is a better year judging by how the pandemic woes have eased and how international borders have opened up. Soon after we returned from our Nile cruise early in 2020, we survived a lockdown which saw us cancelling as many as 3 international trips in 2020 and staying in for much of the time throughout 2020-21. Sad news from family and friends we haven’t, couldn’t visit reached us and all we could do was pray and try to stay healthy. My annual visits to my family in Sydney was put on hold until OZ borders opened up in February 2022. I wasted no time and secured a visa to visit Sydney last May 2022. Stayed a good 6 weeks and felt gratitude seeping in that our family is well and in good health.
La Familia. OZ Chapter. It was winter that mid year in Sydney. Lovely to bond with family again, especially since there are just 2 of us sisters in the original branch of the family.
Soon after, it was time to visit a niece now based in Guam. Renewed my US visa to visit this territory in the Northern Pacific and spent a month, thinking there isn’t much to do in this tiny island. I was prepared to get bored and promised not to whinge. Well, I must have done whatever there is to do in Guam from hotel staycations, duty-free shopping, watching a musical, binging on movies in the nearby cinema, trying Chamorro meals, driving and touring around the island, swimming and other water adventures. There were a number of family friends to meet up so there’s aplenty to do and catch up on. Besides, there was a birthday to celebrate!
A day excursion to Bikini IslandAnd a birthday to celebrate!
In between these visits, I made 2 domestic trips. One to holiday in Boracay with dear friends who are my extended family, and another to Cagayan de Oro in Southern Philippines to celebrate a friend’s retirement and birthday. My relationship with these extended families makes me feel so very thankful for their friendship and the bond that ties us forever. Their children are all my godchildren — from baptism to wedding — and our friendship counts decades with the younger members forging an equally strong bond among themselves. This relationship will last beyond our lifetimes!
And then there’s our Fukuoka trip this last month of the year. Not our first time to Kyushu Island in the southern part of Japan, but we were just too eager to travel again as a group. Who cared who was guiding us or where we were going? Destinations hardly mattered. There were just 3 major sights: a garden in autumn foliage, an active volcano and a gorge, and a canal cruise. And onsens and kaiseki in between. Enough. In the company of these travel buddies, we’re good. Fun as always. More fond memories. We are blessed.
Typically, I prefer independent travels. But when you’re a big group, and with bebes, escorted tours suit best. We had a big bus for our group, and kaiseki meals were pre-arranged and looked forward to. As expected, we had what the area offers fresh and best. We may have issues with our Japanese guide on communication and all, but the food department is nothing to complain about. What a relief!
All 9 courses for our first kaiseki. That Aso beef!
In Arden Hotel Aso, we had 2 kaiseki dinners. We grilled our Aso beef the first time, and had it shabu-shabu a second time. The 2nd kaiseki was more filling as we stepped out of the dining hall with our garments bursting at the seams. No wonder the yukatas are preferred wardrobes for this ritual! Wagyu fans can celebrate but in my book, that sea bream carpaccio is tops! Also, that was the best ebi tempura I’ve eaten. The batter is simply too good, way crispier than the usual.
Sea bream carpaccio Everything on this tray is GOOOOOD! Even the pickles.
When we visited Takachiho Gorge, we had a “simple lunch” in this tiny izakaya accessible through 3 flights of stairs. If your bladder bothers you, better do it before climbing up. But I thought the tray presented an attractive meal which we all enjoyed. After all, I was almost nearing my quota for Aso beef (or any beef) and craving for other proteins.
The “hut” lid covered the yummy dish. Cute! How do they do these eggs?
When we headed to Yanagawa, we lunched in this seafood place just before boarding our river boat. What a delight to see them fish out our lunch fresh from the water tanks! I confess I was hoping for an eel lunch but I’m not complaining about the fish we had.
It’s a rather flat no-name fish. Can you tell? I wouldn’t mind those clams and oysters too!
By the time we reached the city and on our own in the dining department, I knew what to eat. Those excursions exploring geological wonders hyped up my appetite for unagi (eels) and more shellfish. Found an unagi place and an oysters bar at the rooftop of Hakata Train Station. Well, on the top 2 floors actually. Cravings satisfied!
Unagi for my last lunch before flying out. Oysters, sardines and zucchini with prosciutto for our last dinner before heading home. Best with beer.
Not to forget, we did partake of that Ichiran ramen too. Not to be missed. You don’t leave Fukuoka without eating this noodle dish in this rich broth. Plus a wagyu lunch somewhere along the route deep down in the island of Kyushu. Sayonara!
When we reached Arden Hotel Aso in Minami-Aso, we didn’t have any high expectations. Lying in a village in Kyushu, Japan, the onsen hotel must have been neglected much throughout the pandemic judging by its peeling wall paint along the corridors. But its vast garden was well-kept and the resident rabbits look well-taken care of. The rooms are very clean though, and the food superb. The kitchen crew must have stayed along with the garden staff. This you can tell by the quality of its kaiseki dinners. As for the onsen and hot spring baths, we had the area nearly all to ourselves. A choice of indoor and outdoor onsen, as the mood dictates. Swell!
Arden Hotel AsoThe Garden is perfect for strolls and meditative breaks. Be prepared to meet the resident rabbits!
In winter, it’s agonizing to decide whether to try the outdoor onsen and hot spring baths or to simply check out the indoor onsen. Just walking from the hotel in yukatas to the spas within the complex — a very short walk, actually — can be an ordeal because of the freezing weather. But the indoor onsen is far from being a poor choice. My only complaint is that I could hardly tolerate the hot temps as I dipped in. That is why the outdoor onsen makes so much sense!
No cams allowed inside so these are photos from the hotel website.
We all enjoyed the onsen prior to dinners and breakfasts while we were here. And in the afternoons soon after our day excursions, the gardens provided some perfect breaks for meditation or just me-times. Our spacious rooms looked out to these gardens and the autumn foliage added much to the garden’s charm. In spring and summer, these gardens seem perfect for weddings. I can imagine round tables littering the beautiful rock garden, the food and cocktails served under the maple trees, a string quartet just around the garden rocks and many rabbits jumping around the lawn.
These are the covered corridors towards the outdoor onsen. Used by both humans and rabbits. Cocktails in spring/summer temps should be good here. This looks out to the garden.
And yes, I mentioned kaiseki dinners. The breakfasts were good too! If one’s skipping the day excursions, staying in for these meals could even be a treat! Our first was topped by Aso beef, a kind of wagyu that may not be of the same quality as your Kobe or Matsusaka beef, but Aso comes from Akaushi cattle raised in this area. You’ve just got to try it!
Aso Beef is this omakase’s highlight! While the Aso beef shabu shabu is good, I was drawn more to the sea bream carpaccio here. And that tempura is really gooooooood!
Touted as the “Venice of Japan”, this canal cruise couldn’t have been more fun if not for our singing gondolier named Nakamura-San. He reminded me of Confucius, with his long face and beard. He sang for us nearly the whole time, and his repertoire included a lullaby for the baby in our group. From time to time, he’d shout “danger, danger” as we passed the low branches of trees or under the bridges while punting along the Yanagawa river. That was our cue to duck lest we hit our heads.
We took off on 2 boats. This is Boat #1And this is Boat #2
Yanagawa is a castle town just an hour away from Fukuoka. The centuries-old narrow waterways used to be moats surrounding the castle that does not exist anymore. Designated as a National Site for Scenic Beauty, there are plans to even expand the grid of artificial moats for a longer, more leisurely punt ride Yanagawa is famous for. I kept thinking the boat ride must be more fun towards sundown or early evenings when the lights are reflected on the river waters. But I’m glad we did it just after lunch and before the temperature dropped further.
The town’s so small it’s such a pleasure to walk along the canal ways. One of the Boat Stations
While the highlight is the boat ride, don’t skip walking around town and along the canals. Even at low temps, it’s such a delight just walking around. On food choices, this town has a good selection of seafood options. Clams, flatfish, crabs, shrimps, eels, oysters, etc. Don’t miss that too.
Seafood galore A Simple Lunch
So there. If you’re in Fukuoka, make a day trip to Yanagawa if only for your seafood fix and try a punt ride along the former moats of a now non-existent castle. Sayonara!
Not sure about what this vendor is selling 🙄Meet Nakamura-San, our Japanese gondolier.
My last trip with these travel buddies was in 2020, returning back home just a mere week before a lockdown was declared. The idea of traveling together again gave us a high and by the time we were ready to go, our number has grown to 23 adults, 4 teens and 2 babies. A whole bus of happy travelers. It didn’t matter much where we were headed but Japan has always been a good idea. Besides, our last trip to Fukuoka in 2017 had a different itinerary.
Our Growing “Family”
On this trip, the abuelas fussed over the bebes while the abuelos trained the teens how to drink smartly. Cocktail hours were longer and more adventurous as the group now includes an award-winning barista who concocted cocktail drinks for the senior, middle-aged and young adults. As always, we enjoyed the company, the private jokes, the food and the onsen. The autumn colors provide good visuals but then again, Japan is good no matter which season.
Da BoysDa Gels
The temps are dropping so we made sure to wrap ourselves good. The ryokan we are staying in now has an outdoor onsen and we made good use of that before our kaiseki dinner. Post dinner cocktails followed before we called it a night. It’d be a long next day with a long drive towards Takachiho Gorge plus a visit to a shrine where Shinto was born. So there. With the drop in temperature, wish us luck.
This Fish Market smelt soooo good. I was adamant to put oysters on the bed of my tongue as soon as I landed in Sydney and those cravings just had to be satisfied. I didn’t expect there were so many oyster choices! Good thing our food guru friend’s instructions were simple enough. Get the smallest oysters. Have the Balmain Bugs cooked with Singapore Chili. Then throw in a piece of lobster, calamari, grilled salmon and octopus on skewers, and some sashimi and Kani salad to start with.
Frankly, I couldn’t tell rock oysters from Coffin Bay oysters (yeah, what a name for a bay that yields really good oysters). Nor whether they were sourced from Sydney or Merimbula. I can only tell the Pacific Oysters are the largest, yet nowhere as large as those served to us in San Francisco, California. Enjoyed these appetizers way too much, along with the freshest tuna, salmon, scallops and other fish sashimi. I could have stopped there and gone home real happy but those bugs are still a-cooking! And the salmon and octopus a-grilling!
Balmain Bugs in Singapore ChiliGrilled Salmon and Octopus with Lobster Mornay
Heaven landed in Nicholas Seafood Bar in Sydney Fish Market in Pyrmont. Next to our table is a band of athletic men feasting on scampi and bottles of wine. They were happy to down their alcoholic delights and the scampi was just an excuse to keep their stomach linings warm and not empty. In fact, they hardly touched them as they got busy with their spirits. Not so with us 3 Oriental ladies who feasted on all these lovely seafood finds like there’s no tomorrow.
An hour and a half passed and we were bursting at the seams. Even before we capped our lunch with a cup of our favourite brew, I was already planning on setting this gastronomic treat as a Sydney tradition. Unforgettable. Each morsel a culinary delight. All that for 3 ladies with discerning tastes. Please don’t judge us 🙄
It started out as a heritage house tour and simple get-together of long time friends, then as bienvenida for visiting family members, and finally as a pseudo wedding reception for a young couple whose most significant ceremony we all missed because of the pandemic. There were 18 adults and 2 toddlers meeting for the first time who hardly warmed up and interacted with each other. Topics covered a broad range and the long table divided between the senior and younger members of the family. All’s well.
Palacio de Memoria
We nearly went overboard with the pseudo wedding reception. A bridal bouquet, a flower girl’s flower basket, the ring bearer’s pillow, the wedding cake. All in good fun. That happens when we all felt deprived missing a young couple’s wedding. The sprawling garden provided a beautiful backdrop for our group picture as well as bridal bouquet toss up between a spinster and a widow! The little girls from the past have all grown up, some with their adult children and toddlers. And the more senior members have done away with the dyes, proudly bearing their greying hair. The laughter across the long table sounded just as loud and crisp, the jokes nearly the same, and the banter seemingly endless but fun.
All In The FamilyThe Long Table
Here’s one unforgettable get together of family and friends. Never mind that the museum tour was cancelled and the bar housed inside one of the airplanes (spotted the 3 aircraft collections parked in the lawn) were closed. We enjoyed the antipasti and the main entrée as well as the refreshing beverages and vanilla-flavoured wedding cake. The pre-ordered al fresco lunch was seamlessly served and there was time enough to loiter around the gardens. For sure, I’d be back for the guided tour and the date at the bar. Por supuesto!
The Antipasti and the Wedding CakeA Choice of Lamb, Beef, Salmon or Pasta
Palacio de Memoria is now an events and auction venue consisting of a historic mansion restored to its pre-war glory. Abandoned for 2 decades and now owned by the Lhuilliers to house their antique collections including the 3 aircraft, one of which has since been converted into a bar. One can just imagine how this heritage mansion cut a majestic vista right along the wide Roxas Boulevard just across the Manila Bay before parts of the Bay were reclaimed. I bet many parties were held in its sprawling lawn while the breeze gusts in from Manila Bay. At the time we visited, tents were being set up in the front lawn for what looked like a wedding event. I can also imagine what great parties one can host here to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries or just about any momentous occasion. And there’s La Loggia Restaurant housed in a separate al fresco structure right beside the Mansion to provide the Italian food and refreshments. I heard one can even arrange picnics under one of the trees or just outside the airplanes with a picnic basket packed by La Loggia. Swell!
The last 2 years were marked by non-activity and a much-limited social life. My last trip was just a few weeks before the lockdown and meet-ups with family and friends were restricted to zoom meetings and Viber chats. Finally, this.
Boracay
Flying into this island south of Manila was a thrill by itself. After all, it’s been 2 years since my last flight. Travel today involved many health protocols, but seeing this slice of Shangrila is worth all the “trouble”. The hotel was fully booked and it’s good that people are spending their holidays and traveling again. Overcast skies and intermittent rain didn’t deflate our excitement. In the four days we were in the island, we had 2 days of sun. Not bad.
Sunset Watch
Unlike our previous trips, this one tops the list in the leisure and R&R department. Most activities centered around the beach and the hotel pool. We even managed to put to good use the excellent hotel facilities for kids such as the entertainment center, fish feeding ponds and playground. There were shuttles to take us to the more crowded and busier boat stations and Resto/shopping spots, but the hotel has been our little corner of paradise we truly enjoyed staying in. A perfect way to enjoy this break from our pandemic confinement.
Happy thoughts. Happy memories. May this pandemic finally blow over so we can spend more holidays under the sun with sand between our toes, sipping our piña coladas, mango daiquiris and margaritas or cold beers. As the wind slaps our salty faces and ruffles our sandy hair, we feel grateful to enjoy these slices of paradise. A real Shangrila.
The pandemic seriously restricted our social life and daily routines. Online shopping, dining in, Netflix-bingeing and virtual meet-ups have become the norm. But I’m happy to note that the art world is still very much vibrant and many artists — forced to stay home and finding more time to indulge in their art — have drawn inspiration from everyday life otherwise taken for granted.
While we stayed home much of the time, we haven’t given up on the stuff we enjoy doing. Thank God our neighbourhood is lined with deli shops, restos, bar joints, art galleries, furniture shops and not too far away, specialty home decor shops where one can spend entire afternoons. Our white walls are now adorned with newly-framed artworks which made trips to our favorite framer so very pleasurable. The art galleries are such a delight to visit and the adjacent coffee and snack bars provide interesting breaks. The alley we frequent even boast of resident cats who’ve since become attractions of the place. Now, here’s one area where feline and human creatures seem to live in true harmony amidst all the beautiful artworks. Swell.
Eating out is restricted to only a few establishments which we found to be safely observing health protocols. But eating in is no less satisfying. We even sourced some of our dinners from our favourite restos as food deliveries have become our new normal. One lovely discoveryis the joy of enjoying good meals without worrying about finding a parking slot nor of having to drive home. The convenience beats worries of prepping for meals and washing the dishes. Over time, we’ve grown accustomed to serving the food in their “delivered state” to do away with stuff filling our kitchen sink. No big deal, really.
While we have since started brewing our coffee and creating our cocktails at home,we didn’t miss out on sitting in outdoor cafesand bars if only to immerse ourselves in the ambiance of shooting the breeze, so to speak. Besides, it’s really nice to sit it out for some beverages after being on one’s feet in the many neighbouring art galleries. The pandemic may have reduced the visiting crowd but certainly not the interest and enthusiasm of the few who come. Online shopping for art may be the new norm but a serious collector would still want to view such creations up close and personal. There comes also this newfound respect for young artists as one observes how their art evolved through this rough period.
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