A little taste of Japanese ancient customs: A night at Shiraume Ryokan in Kyoto

While living in Miyanoshita, Hakone in 1991, I had the honor of being invited to a private Japanese tea ceremony in a classic Japanese room at Kikkaso-Inn, the former Imperial family summer villa in Miyanoshita that was built in 1895. Couldn't ask for a better place to experience it! I was blown away and humbled by the experience. The experience that stayed with me for a long time and that made me dream of staying at a ryokan. My dream finally came true almost 2 decades later when we stayed at this lovely Shiraume Ryokan in Kyoto last month.

Shiraume Ryokan is located in this picturesque little street in one of the historical areas near Gion district.

loved the entrance...

When we arrived, we were greeted by Satoko-san who helped us with our luggage and took us to our room, Umezono on the second floor where we were served Japanese green tea and sweets. 

Umezono has a private bath (made of hinoki cypress wood) and a view of a serene garden and Shirakawa Stream. 

Since we wanted a full Ryokan experience, we booked a room with Kaiseki dinner and breakfast - both served in our room. Our 12-course dinner was just outstanding. Tomoko-san, the owner, who personally served us during both dinner and breakfast, explained that the ingredients for Kaiseki meals are carefully chosen and properly prepared according to the season and artfully presented to reflect the nature shapes and color. To maintain freshness, each course is served right after it is prepared. Every time she brought in the food, Tomoko-san took the time to explain what we were going to enjoy. I couldn't remember all the details of each meal, but in addition to fugu - the infamous Japanese fish that people risk their lives to eat it - there were appetizer, a bowl of clear fish soup, beautifully presented sashimi, jelly dish, baked dish, vegetable dish, seared duck breast, deep fried dish, tempura, rice and pickles and dessert.

                     appetizer - light, delicious and beautifully presented  

                   

                                

                                

      I slept like a baby in this comfy futon 

The Japanese breakfast was fabulously delicious. I especially liked the Japanese rolled omelette. 

After breakfast we hanged out in our room enjoying the classic, elegant and tastefully done decor and watching the world go by while listening to the stream outside. Staying at Shiraume was simply one of the best experiences in my life that I will never forget! 

Jakarta, November 2009

Beautiful pictures of Bunderan HI (HI roundabout) Jakarta at dawn viewed from hotel room.

and on a normal day...

I was in the city for 10 days last month and as always, had a great visit. In addition to spending time with family and doing some work, I attended a half-day workshop about making batik (mostly tracing over the design on a cotton cloth with hot wax using canting) held in Museum Bank Mandiri. It was a fun activity in a beautiful setting. I would do that again for sure.

18 hours in Narita, Japan

On my way home on JAL, I was transiting in Narita. It was already dark by the time I arrived at my hotel. So after freshening up a little bit I went to the nearby restaurant just across the street, spotted from the shuttle bus earlier. It was a noodle house. What a perfect meal to have in a cold and rainy night like that evening! But I went for a bowl of rice, vegetable stir fry and one hard boiled egg as they used pork for the broth. It was the lightest, simplest and tastiest stir fry I ever tried! 

This wasn't my first trip to Japan. I lived in Miyanoshita in Hakone for about 3 months in the early nineties. That was some time before I was really interested in food.  But I do remember after returning to Indonesia, I found myself often craving for sushi which was not available in the city where I lived at that time. I didn't even like fish before I came to Japan!  Fast forward, early in the morning after breakfast, I took a shuttle from the hotel to Keisei Narita Station. 
It was very cold in Narity City. I rushed to Doutor Coffee outside the station for a cup of hot chocolate and Japanese pastry and sat around to enjoy my morning. 

Then walked down to this cute Omote-Sando path

 to Narita-san Shinsyo-ji Temple (pictured below). 

From the temple, after exploring the side streets I went back to Omote-Santo path in hopes to find a restaurant that was already open so that I could enjoy unagi for (early) lunch. I loved unagi (eel) and heard that unagi is Narita City's speciality. So I had to try it. To my disappointment, the city was still pretty dead. 

Several restaurants were just getting ready to open their doors for their customers by the time I had to go back to the station to catch the shuttle back to my hotel. Sigh...

Saw this gentleman bake senbei (Japanese rice crackers) on my way to the station, so got some to snack on the plane and for my family in Jakarta.  

Glad to find onigiri at the hotel's convenience store. Grabbed a couple of those to munch on while waiting for hotel shuttle to take me back to the airport.

A Family Trip to West Sumatra

Afternoon fog in Puncak Lawang

2 days after I arrived in Jakarta, eleven of us -including my parents, all sisters, one brother in-law, three nephews and one niece- headed to West Sumatra. The plan was to visit Padang, Bukittinggi and the towns where my parents were born and grew up. The trip went great, my parents really enjoyed being back in their home towns with all their children and some of their grandchildren. But we had a bit of scare. The entire family narrowly missed (by just a few hours) getting caught in the earthquake in Padang.  Hotel Ambacang where we were supposed to stay was collapsed. Sadly, a number of people died there. 

September 30: Jakarta to Padang via Pekanbaru on Asia Air. Arrived in Pekanbaru at 8:00 a.m. only to find our rental cars were nowhere to be seen. While waiting for the cars (and the drivers) to arrive, we had breakfast at the airport restaurant.  90 minutes later left Pekanbaru heading to Bukittinggi to meet our twins cousins Y & Y who would then take us to Padang. Arrived in Bukittinggi around 4:30 p.m., 2 hours behind schedule.  

Our parents - Maninjau Lake at the background

We were just about to leave the city about 45 minutes later, when we felt a strong earthquake. After the earthquake, we continued our drive to Padang, but had to turn back to Bukittinggi an hour later after finding out that all access to Padang were closed by landslides from the earthquake. After unsuccessful attempts to contact Hotel Ambacang in Padang where we had our rooms booked for the night, we gave up and checked onto The Hills in Buittinggi. Later that night we learned that Padang was heavily damaged and Hotel Ambacang was collapsed where many guests were trapped inside. We were speechless and couldn't stop counting our blessings. Had the car rentals arrived on time at the airport to pick us up, we would have been in our rooms in Hotel Ambacang getting together with all our relatives who live in Padang when the earthquake hit. 

Songket making - Rumah Tenun Pusako

October 1:  Had breakfast at the hotel and stayed put until we got a confirmation that all our relatives in Padang were okay. By noon families in Padang decided that there was no way for us to visit Padang. Instead my mom's siblings would meet us all in Bukittinggi as soon as the access is available. We visited Ngarai Sianok (Sianok Gorge) and had lunch at Gulai Itiak Lado Mudo (young duck cooked in green pepper). After lunch we headed to Dad's hometown, Lawang to visit Puncak Lawang and his family house "Rumah Batu".  Puncak Lawang which is located about 1200 meters above sea level is the best spot to view Maninjau Lake. 

Traditional house in Lawang

On the way back to Bukittinggi, stopped by Bika Si Mariana for a sweet treat. Bika is a speciality from West Sumatra made of rice flour, grated coconut and palm sugar then baked in direct flames inside belanga (a type of kettle with a wide mouth but no lid). Dinner was Minangkabau cuisine again at RM Sederhana. 

Our dinner at Simpang Raya

October 2:  Walked around Jam Gadang right after sunrise while the rest of the gang was still in bed. Had breakfast at the hotel then waited for news from our families in Padang. By 2:00 p.m. my uncle In informed us that they just left Padang after waiting for 7 hours to get gas. Since our parents were too tired to go out and all the boys seemed to be interested more in playing with their notebooks, my sisters and I decided to go to Pandai Sikek, a small village not too far from Bukittiggi that is known for its fine quality songket.  Songkets are ceremonial wear from Sumatra. In West Sumatra, they are woven in silk and intricately patterned with gold and/or silver threads. We visited Rumah Tenun Pusako and was thrilled to meet nenek (one of the main players in Pandai Sikek tradionatlonal weavings) and her daughter as well as watch how a songket is made. Their songket collections are just fabulous. Each of us left Rumah Tenun Pusako with at least a piece of Songket. I decided to get one piece that has old Minangkabau pattern and color. 


October 3: Tired of having hotel food for breakfast, around 6:00 a.m., I walked to Los Ambuang that is not too far from the hotel to get Katupek Picak Tek Apuak for a take-out. After breakfast, hang out in the hotel, then went to mom's hometown, Simabur in Batusangkar. Since we arrived in Bukittinggi, our eyes were spoiled by the beauty of the sceneries of the countryside - a common scene that we enjoyed everywhere in West Sumatra would be either abundant rice fields or lush green of spectacular valley and mountains at the background. The ride from Bukittinggi to Simabur was no different.

Rice paddies in Koto Gadang

Lunch was a home-made traditional spread of Minangkabau cuisine at my mom's sister. We all agreed that lunch was the most delicious meal we've had during our trip. After lunch we visited our grandparents' graveyards, then drove to Batusangkar to re-visit Istana Pagaruyung (Pagaruyung Palace) -  my first visit to this palace was in the 70s. Unfortunately, the palace was still being re-built after the fire that totally vanished the building in 2007.  Dinner was Martabak Kubang (savory meat pancake Kubang stye) at Restoran Kubang Hayda. Kubang is a small village, 140 km from Payakumbuh where the maker of this dish is from. 

October 4: After breakfast at the hotel again, we went back to Rumah Tenun Pusako in Pandai Sikek before visiting Kota Gadang that is known for its fine silver crafts. Lunch was again masakan Minang but this time at Rumah Makan & Restoran Family. Hang out in the city, then had a delicious - or not so delicious if you don't like durian - Martabak Durian (a pancake stuffed with durian) for snack. Went out to get some Keripik Balado Sarina (spicy cassava chips) from Padang. I didn't get the famous Kripik Balado Christine Hakim per my aunt's recommendation who lives in Padang. It was a good choice. After having Sate Padang from a restoran that my uncle frequented to, we hang out and chatted in the hotel rooms until midnight when it's time for us to leave for Pekanbaru to catch our flights to Jakarta the next morning. 

Martabak Kubang - Yum yum

October 5: Checked out from the hotel at midnight then left Bukittinggi shortly after.  The drive to Pekanbaru was easy - but not for our cousins Y & Y who had to drive on the road with no sufficient street lights -. The drive was a lot more pleasant than the one we took from Pekanbaru with the rental cars. Arrived in Pekanbaru before dawn, went to our cousin's house to freshen up and had breakfast then on to the airport. By the time we arrived in Jakarta every one was starving so we decided to have lunch at Bakmi GM inside the airport before heading home.

10 Days in Jordan

Hubby and and I went to Jordan last month. It was a fabulous cultural experience. We learned that the people of Jordan (at least those we encountered along the way) are very hospitable and generous with their time. Here is the day-by-day recap of the trip with links to places we stayed, ate and visited.

Getting to Jordan on June 11. United Airlines Los Angeles to Washington Dulles then to London. British Midland (BMI) London to Amman, Jordan with 6 hour layover in Heathrow -> were able to freshen up, rest and have decent food - thanks to the new BMI Lounge.

Obeid's Family

Arrive in Amman on the same day in the evening. Checked into Intercontinental Amman, between the 2nd and 3rd Circles. Very close to the hotel, right by the 2nd Circle, spotted a shoebox-sized food stall with a lot of people lining up in front of it. It turned out to be the Reem Cafetaria, a popular shwarma joint in Amman. It was already late and we were very tired after an almost 32 hour journey so we went straight to bed. 

Waking up in Amman, had breakfast in the hotel then off we went to Petra. On the way to Petra, we had local cuisine for lunch at a restaurant in the middle of desert highway; generous platter of hummus, baba ghanoush, mutabbel (spicier version of baba ghanoush) plus grilled chicken with yellow rice. That was the tastiest yellow rice we had in Jordan. Later, after we checked into the Moevenpick Petra, we headed to Petra Visitor Center which is literally about a 2 minute walk from the hotel. The ancient city of Petra is simply awesome and breathtaking. Spectacular view of the Treasury (Al Khazna) in the afternoon welcomed us at the end of the Siq. From there we continued our way to the Monastery (Al Deir) which involved a steep hike of about 800 steps. Right before sunset we slowly went back to the Treasury, enjoyed the beauty of the treasury after sunset before heading back to hotel. Too tired to explore restaurants outside hotel, we dined inthe hotel's restaurant Al-Saraya - which was nothing to rave about.

The Monastery (Al Deir)

Petra & Wadi Rum ~ After breakfast in the hotel, we went back to Petra to enjoy the Treasury in the morning then climbed up the steep steps behind the Royal tombs to view the Treasury from the cliffs above. Chatted with Raina, a smart Bedouin girl who helped her mom sell stuff inside Petra. Had a very delicious lunch of Bedouin specialities at Red Cave Restaurant then cooled down with Moevenpick ice cream at the hotel's indoor courtyard while waiting for our ride to Wadi Rum. Drove along King's Hwy to Wadi Rum and arrived at Obeid's Bedouin camp in the protected area at Wadi Rum about 90 minutes later. We spent the whole afternoon on the ledge of one of the rocks enjoying the sweet Bedouin tea and chatting away with Obeid's family while watching life and camels go by until sunset. It was one of the best experiences of my life. Dinner was great; chicken prepared by Obeid's son Salim -that had been cooked in the Bedouin way under the sand- yellow rice, vegetables, potatoes and fresh pita bread. Hubby commented that was the best pita bread he ever tried. We opted not to use our camp at night and slept under the stars in the middle of the Wadi Rum desert. 

Wadi Rum ~ Waking up in the dessert! Had breakfast in Obeid's camp; pita bread, hummus, za'atar - I loved za'atar so much that had it for breakfast almost every morning after that day. Took a jeep ride to experience the wonders of the Wadi Rum desert before heading back to Amman. Had late lunch at the hotel then hung around the rest of afternoon. Obeid took us for a taste of mansaf, the national dish of Jordan, for dinner at Al-Quds Restaurant. Mansaf is a Bedouin dish of lamb cooked in yogurt and served on a bed of rice. Delicious!

Mansaf

Back in Amman. Had breakfast at the hotel's restaurant - glad to find za'atar was available :-).   Felt really ill so decided to stay in hotel room the whole day. Lunch and dinner from Room Service.

Amman ~ Felt a little bit better. Breakfast and lunch in the hotel, then decided to try shwarma from Reem Cafeteria for snack in the afternoon. Getting bored with hotel food, we ordered some take out from Romero Restaurant located a stone's throw from the hotel. Food was superb and I experienced a real Jordanian hospitality when finding it impossible to cross the street to pick up the food; a passing taxi driver stopped his car, got off and walked me across the street, then back to his taxi and drove away.

Exploring Amman. Right after breakfast took a taxi to King Abdullah Mosque, the blue-domed mosque and spent most of the morning inside the mosque. Had lunch in the hotel at its Mexican Cinco de Mayo Restaurant. Then grabbed a taxi to visit Citadel (Jabal al-Qal'a) and to enjoy a spectacular view of the entire city. Had dinner at the hotel's Lebanese Restaurant, Bourj Al Hamam instead of Fakhr El-Din as originally planned. The food was excellent; Hindbeh (sauteed dandelion leaves), Dolma, Yalanji (similar to Dolma but with vine leaves), Fatayer (Spinach turnovers), Kofta Kebab to name a few. Summer evening was so beautiful in Amman so seating outside on the restaurant terrace was a great choice.

Dead Sea. With a rented a car, we went to the Dead Sea via Madaba and Mt. Nebo. Got lost in Madaba but a taxi driver with his family in the car noticed our confusion. He stopped his car and waved for us to follow him. A kilometer's worth of turns later, he pointed us to the right road and we were back on track. Made a stop at the Dead Sea Panorama Complex that has a splendid view of the Dead Sea for lunch and a quick visit to a Dead Sea Museum. Great architecture. Lunch again was delicious; dolma, fatayer; shanklish (local cheese), lamb chops, chicken wings, hummus, walnut dip and pita bread. Checked into Jordan Valley Marriott Resort, floated on the sea after sunset -it was unbearably hot during the day- then had dinner at Ill Terrazzo. Walked around the hotel watching the lights from the towns on the West Bank (Israel) across the sea before hitting the hay.

Dead Sea and Jerash. Went back to the sea before sunrise to enjoy it before the crowds got in. After breakfast got pampered with a mud spa before heading north up to Ajlun Castle, the highest spot in Northern Jordan that has a sweeping view of the Jordan Valley. From there went onto Jerash, the biggest Roman Ruins outside Rome then returned to Amman. Checked in back to the Intercontinental Hotel then had dinner at Bourj Al Hamam again to taste the delicious Lebanese feast for the last time.

11 days later, long flight home. Obeid took us to the airport in the morning. BMI Amman to London, United Airlines London to San Francisco, United Airlines San Francisco to home by evening just enough time to get a quick shower and go to bed. Had a grilled fillet mignon dinner on the plane which was very tasty.

Floating on the Dead Sea

More pictures of Bedouin Specialities - very yummy ...

And amazing sites