Continue from here, here and here, this is the last piece, I’m keeping the best for last.

Now it was a coincidence that Daddy was in Japan too the 1st week I was there. He arrived 2 days later than me, and he was staying in Shinjuku (新宿). Here was a conversation that took place before he left for Japan :
I asked him “Should I check out and move to Shinjuku to stay with you?”
He replied, “Of course not. What would people think? We are there to work you know?”
Hello, we’re married right? Even if we’re working, we should be sleeping together at night, no?
That’s Daddy, so full of his principals, no abuse of work trips, no taking advantage of the company, etc etc. Anyway, I side track.

So we didn’t meet until the weekend. On Friday (27/2) I moved to Shinjuku after work, and met Daddy at, Hotel Century Southern Tower, the hotel he stayed in, which has beautiful view of Tokyo from the room and more luxurious than mine.

On Saturday, I was really keen to go to Hakone (箱根), a 2 hr train ride away, to look at Mt Fuji from afar. Daddy didn’t want a taxing trip, he was more keen to do some exploring of Tokyo; so Tokyo it was.

We headed to Ueno (上野), a nice place to check out local produce. There were lots to see, and things were cheaper than Shinjuku; but when I wanted to buy some seaweed and green tea, Daddy thought it was better to buy from reputable source. He said the things from the street vendor didn’t look like it was good quality.

Ueno – Ameyoko Shopping street

At a Fish Market – fresh clams and fish; live crabs and prawns for sale; recommended cooking style provided for reference. How thoughtful.

For lunch, we had the best Udon in a restaurant stumbled by chance, I was attracted by the sign which said, 手打ち (Japanese : Handmade). I normally prefer Soba over Udon, but this was good. I had mine cold topped with Vege tempura.

After Ueno, we went to Asakusa (浅草), walked around Nakamise (仲见世), a shopping street (mainly souvenirs) leading to Sensoji Temple (浅草寺).

A monk at the entrance of the Asakusa subway; Nakamise shopping street; an orange tree on Nakamise

Around Sensoji

Our main purpose for coming to Asakusa was to check out Kappabashi Dogugai Street, which is lined with stores selling table and kitchen wear, for we love to shop for such things. We probably spent more than an hour there, hopping from one shop to another, eventually buying a few plates. With the strong Yen, most things turned to be quite expensive.

That night, we had dinner at Soba Daian restaurant, again attracted by the 手打ち (Handmade) sign at the entrance. We shared a portion of sashimi, soba, salt grilled fish collar, tofu sashimi, and dessert; all were absolutely delicious.

It felt rather strange that we’re eating and shopping without the girls, and the hotel room was so quiet without their chatters. However, it was a lovely Saturday.

On Sunday, after checking out and a quick breakfast, Daddy took the train to the airport for his flight home, and I took the train to Takao-san-guchi to meet up with my colleagues. We wanted to visit Mount Takao or Takaosan (高尾山), a mountain which was awarded a maximum 3 stars by Michelin Voyager Pratique Japon. There were 4 of us, my 2 other non-Japanese colleagues (who were from a different site), and our Japanese colleague cum guide.

This greeted me as I got out of the station. A beautiful village at the foot of Takaosan.

Instead of hiking, we took the cable car up, but explored the top of the mountain on foot. The view and the air is so different from downtown Tokyo. There are different hiking trails leading to different places. We first went to Yakuoin Temple, built more than a thousand year ago, and then to the peak of the mountain. We saw small little shops and restaurants scattered around. On a clear day, it seems you can view Fujiyama from Takaosan, but we didn’t manage to see it. Here are the photos :

The mountains around, can’t tell which is Fujiyama; Hachioji can be seen from the top; the cable car that took us up Takaosan

Around Takaosan

Around Yokuoin Temple : A beautiful bell hung from the roof; cleansing area at the temple; donor’s names on bamboo; Tengu or 天狗, Japanese mytological figures

Shop and stalls in Takaosan; steam bun for sale; a boot washing area with brushes provided for hikers at the Takaosan-guchi station.

By the time we’re back at the Takaosan-guchi station, it was close to 3pm. Our Japanese host mentioned that she’d made reservations at a restaurant, and we had to wait 20mins for the bus to send us there. I was really hungry and wondered why we couldn’t just go to any restaurants near the station. The bus ride took another 10minutes, through winding roads and small alleys, and when we arrived at Ukai Toriyama, I knew why Michiko took the trouble, she wanted us to experience the ultimate Japanese dining.

The restaurant is in a big traditional Japanese garden, with little streams and ponds scattered around thatched-roofed country-style cottages.

The beautiful Japanese garden that houses the restaurant

A cottage for private dining; tradional lantern; a place for tea; Japanese water feature

Michiko booked one of these cottages for lunch. Served by a waitress wearing kimono, our full course lunch took us almost 3hours to finish.

Seasonal vege appetiser; local raddish stew; clear soup with pigeon meat ball

Fresh water fish sashimi (the sea water fish is still nicer); grilled seasonal fish; Dumpling in red bean soup

The rice comes with grated sticky yam, I didn’t really like the sticky slimy feel

Waiter helping to grill our meat. I have grilled chicken tigh, I’d never tasted chicken so delicious before; my colleagues have beef

All that food for 9,000Yen per course per person. Luckily my colleague was paying.

By the time we’re done, it was already dark outside, and the place still looked gorgeous.

That was how my beautiful weekend ended. Good company, good sight-seeing, good food.