September 30, 2009

Every morning, Yoshiko-san has made a spectacular breakfast. We start each day with a smile all over because of her.

Johnny drove us to Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and it rained all day. The mist was so low, we couldn’t see Fuji-san even from our approach. Still—we’re glad we went because we were able to see the country-side. The Fall colors are just beginning to appear and, to a Californian—where it’s either mostly green or brown all year 'round, even the little bit of color we saw seemed to be explosive and most vibrant to us. As Japan is made up of volcanic mountains, the peaks were spectacular. We made it to the mid-base line of Fuji-san and had lunch. Brian and Grace had soba and Johnny had curry cutlet. As Brian put it, “This is excellent for what amounts to be ‘cafeteria’ food.”

We drove out towards a lake called Yamanaka-ko. Stopped at a tea and dessert place right across the street from the lake called The Paper Moon. We had apricot-filled cheesecake and a banana cream type pie—both of which were nigh-orgasmic. The Japanese just sort of teeeeases you with sweetness in their desserts—juusst a touch—very subtle though at the same time, very rich. We’ve vowed to ramp up our exercise regimen when we get back home.

Brian got to drive Johnny’s supercharged car to our next destination: Hakone Yumoto, known for the hot springs. This is a place that has a lot of bath houses—called “onsen” (pronounced own-sen). The place we stayed had men’s and women’s separate bath areas, and a private one. Brian and Grace enjoyed the private one…where one side wall was an actual outside garden. Absolute hhhhhheaven!!

Then there was dinner. EVERYthing we’d eaten so far has been *excellent*. This dinner…what an experience!!! Sooo much traditional Japanese food—so beautifully presented—just amazing! Johnny had steak; Grace had shrimp and Brian had *fresh* abalone (more on this below). Those were our main choices. But the rest of the foods that accompanied each dish was both numerous…and overwhelmingly delicious.

The “WOWs” and the “mmMMMMMMMmmms” were the prevalent responses of the evening. Well—other than the almost screech from Grace made when Brian cooked his *alive* abalone. Johnny was the first to notice that the abalone was alive. Each of us had a wee burner to cook our fish-stock soup. Grace’s shrimp was already cooked, so Brian’s and Johnny’s dish needed to be cooked and the burner was at the ready for that. After the soup…and whenever they were ready, what with alllllll the other food each of us had, they were to remove the ceramic bowl that the soup was in and they could grill their main course. Johnny was given a flat ceramic plate; Brian was given a square grill screen. At one point, Johnny looked MOST startlingly at Brian’s abalone which was near enough to him for him to notice. Grace had looked up to see Johnny wide-eyed and staring at “something” on the table. With dread dawning over her face at the realization of WHY Johnny was staring, she slowly peaked over, too—just in time to also see it move. Brian hadn’t noticed yet. When Johnny pointed it out to him, Brian poked it with his chopsticks and it moved again.

He was provided with several pats of butter to put on the abalone. He put the square grill screen over the flame and then plopped the abalone shell on the flame. It was then that Grace leaned waaaaay away from him and hid her face—trying to suppress her screech as the abalone violently squirmed. Yes, she was successful but very much “heebie-jeebied out!” Brian managed to video tape part of it (a good minute into the cooking process). Unfortunately, the video is too big to add to this blog. Maybe that's a good thing!

Brian said that the abalone was delicious. Johnny declined to taste. Grace eventually tried a nibble and said it was like she remembered (i.e., Japanese style)—it’s just that it had never arrived in front of her in such a manner. [cough]

After dinner, we all went outside and took a long stroll still dressed in our yukata’s (dressing kimono from the bath) while enjoying the light misty rain. Such a quiet, peaceful evening. We came back to the room and promptly crashed. The huge room was both dining area and sleeping area. We slept on the tatami floors on futons in the old traditional Japanese way. What a perfect day!