Japan - Day 15: My 7-hour journey back to Malaysia

4 December 2010 was the last day of our Japan trip.

Sayonara, Nippon!

Brandy and Peanuts

In-flight meal (Japanese style)

Cubed Salmon and Shrimp Salad

Zaru Soba and Cha Soba

Soba Sauce

First time seeing chopsticks on board

Tea-break: blueberry muffin and green tea ice-cream

Japan - Day 14: Take nothing but 'calories', leave nothing but 'food'prints

3 December was the second last day of my stay in Japan. Being adventurous enough, I filled myself with courage and performed a series of crazy acts, from dawn to dusk, overfeeding myself with the amount of food which I rarely dare to tuck in back in Malaysia. A catastrophe is looming, I am going to have a period of time when I cannot allow any more food to go into my mouth. I don't always crave, or indulge in all the sugary snacks, except for this time ... ...

Breakfast 1:

Excelsior Cafe @ SATY Takanohara

Cappuccino

Shrimp Sandwich + Coffee @ ¥380

Breakfast 2:

Chococro @ SATY Takanohara

Chocolate Croissant @ ¥160

Lunch 1:

Hakodate Sushi Restaurant @ SATY Takanohara

Uni (Sea Urchin) Sushi @ ¥ 356

Sperm of Pollock fish @ ¥ 280

Lunch 2:

Chef Nakagiri Cake Shop @ Takanohara

Chestnut Gateau + Caffe Latte @ ¥ 396

Afternoon Tea Break (the one and only):

Chateau Dior Bake Restaurant @ Saidaiji

Caffe Macchiato

Japanese Baked Cheesecake + Caffe Macchiato @ ¥ 500

Dinner 1:

Chestnut Swissroll @ ¥ 380

Dinner 2:

Japanese Cotton Cheesecake @ ¥ 120

Mingna's Food Philosophy:

Take nothing but 'calories'

Leave nothing but 'food'prints

Japan - Day 13: Eating three meals a day!

From 2 December onwards, we put a full stop to our outing to give way to 3 main activities:

Eat, Shop and Rest.

The first day was a lesson in gastronomy.

Breakfast: Japanese Style Breakfast

Scrambled eggs

Saba fish

Tsukemono (Preserved Raddish)

Fried Shredded Potato

Lunch: Japanese Noodles

Soba Restaurant in Nara

Zaru soba (Cold Buckwheat noodles笊蕎麦):

Mori soba topped with shredded nori seaweed.

Nishin soba 鰊(にしん)蕎麦:

Topped with migaki nishin 身欠きニシン, or dried fish of the Pacific herring.

Dinner: Japanese Curry

Japanese curry rice (karē don カレー丼)

Kare Udon (Udon served with curry sauce)

Japan - Day 12: Tōshōdai-ji (唐招提寺) & Yakushi-ji (薬師寺), Nara

1 December 2010 - Our aim of the day is to spend half a day visiting two temples which are located two train stops from Takanohara Kintetsu Eki. We swore that we had had enough from the past 11 days thus minimising our walking time is crucial. Owing to that, even the two temples selected, Tōshōdai-ji (唐招提寺) and Yakushi-ji (薬師寺), are merely a stone's throw from each other.

Nishinokyo Kintetsu Station

Yakushi-ji (薬師寺)

Courtyard

Toto (East pagoda)

Main hall

Saitō (West Pagoda)

Daikodo

Yakushi-ji (薬師寺)

Zen Sand Garden

Tōshōdai-ji (唐招提寺)

Genjo-sanzoin's Octagonal Hall

Golden Hall

Koro

Shichido garan