Summer Vacation

A few weeks ago John and I took a spontaneous summer vacation! We decided to go up to Hokkaido, the northernmost island in Japan, for the first part of the week, and then pop down south to Kyushu for the final weekend of our trip.

Hokkaido was wonderful, much cooler than the hot humid weather Tokyo has been having, and with lots of wide open outdoor spaces. Our first stop was Noboribetsu, a small onsen town that's famous for its volcanic sulfur vents and geysers. After a night there we went to Sapporo, the biggest city in Hokkaido for several days, and then went out to Otaru and Yoichi. Otaru is a small port town with a lovely canal and old western style stone buildings. And Yoichi is the home of a major Japanese whiskey distillery. We really enjoyed seeing it all, and also relaxing, lying around reading, and spending time in coffee shops.

Fukuoka, the biggest city in Kyushu, reminded us a lot of Tokyo but moved at a much more casual pace. In one ramen shop (that is very famous and had a line out the door) we were told to take our time and enjoy our meal! At ramen shops in Tokyo you are expected to eat as quickly as possible and get out, so it was quite a pleasant surprise.

Both Sapporo and Fukuoka are know for ramen - miso up north, and pork broth in the south, and we ate our hearts out. We liked everywhere we went except for one place. Quick tip - if you find yourself in Sapporo, Yukikaze was incredibly good! And if you find yourself in Fukuoka we thought Issou did not live up to the hype.

Sulfur vents in Noboribetsu

John bought me this adorable coke

Coffee and cheesecake, plus John in the mirror

Our hotel in Sapporo had a fire pit on the roof

The old Sapporo brewery

Yukikaze ramen - so delicious!

Yoichi is old-fashioned and uses direct fire stills

Yoichi distillery

The canal in Otaru

Drinks on the beach in Kyushu

Fukuoka at sunset

If you're not having cake for breakfast you're not doing vacation right

Afternoon Tea at The Kahala Resort

While my sister and I were in Hawaii we wanted to have afternoon tea. The Kahala Resort is actually the first place I ever had afternoon tea ten years ago, and I had amazing memories of the experience. At the risk of tainting the memories, and after calling to confirm a gluten free menu for Julie, we decided to give it a shot.

We arrived half an hour late, entirely because I mixed up the reservation, but they seated us graciously, and we never felt rushed. We were given tea menus, and selected the two teas we wanted to order, but then our server brought out samples of the teas to smell and we ended up changing our order. The White Rose tea is out-of-this-world delicious, and I only wish they sold it to take home! We also had the Kahala Signature Blend, which was a little disappointing. Black tea is the first ingredient listed, with hibiscus close to the end. I expected a slightly tart tropical black tea, but this was bright pink and basically like drinking Red Zinger. Not bad, but if I had understood I wouldn't have ordered it. At the Kahala you can have hot water refills, but you can't change the tea you ordered. We happily refilled the White Rose, but didn't finish the original pot of the Kahala Blend.

The Kahala was wonderful about preparing a gluten free menu for Julie that was creative and appealing. You just need to give them a day or two of advanced notice. Honestly, her savories looked more delicious and bountiful than mine! I think my favorite from the meal was a deviled egg with crab and bacon - I now realize all deviled eggs need a chunk of crunchy bacon stuck in them!

The atmosphere was really relaxing and the service was extremely friendly. And I don't mean to diminish them at all when I say that has overwhelmingly been my experience everywhere in Hawaii. We were seated outside on the veranda with views of the dolphin pools (that's right, they have dolphin pools!), the swimming pool, and the ocean. This is a mild complaint, but I believe the seating area has shifted from ten years ago, and is now farther from the dolphins. It also seems just a little more worn, or perhaps I've developed a more critical eye. I should admit we went on a kind of rainy gray day, so that must have influenced my impressions to some extent.

If you have the chance to visit the Kahala, be sure to walk around and explore. There is a beautiful spiral staircase with dozens of orchids growing along it, and while we were there before Christmas, the Christmas tree was filled with live orchids as well.

The Kahala Mandarin
Hours: 2:00-5:30
Phone: 808-739-8760
Address: 5000 Kahala Ave., Honolulu, HI 96816
Map

The Orchid Staircase

Always so relaxing

The bottom tier is gluten free

Gluten free desserts

The dolphin lanai

Ocean View

The orchid filled Christmas tree

Read about other afternoon teas:
The Aman Tokyo
The Palace Hotel Tokyo
The Metropole Hanoi
The Ritz Carlton Tokyo
Tokyo Shangri-la
Peninsula Hotel Tokyo
The Mandarin Oriental (second time)
Park Hyatt Shinjuku
Four Seasons Marunouchi
Hotel Chinzanso
The Mandarin Oriental

Hawaiian Sister-Trip

Back in December, my sister and I met up for a week in Hawaii, and it was the best thing ever. I pretty much haven't been able to stop talking about it since. The scenery, the weather, the food, the time with my sister, I couldn't have hoped for more.

Ten years ago I had a summer job in Hawaii, which was an incredible experience. I've been dreaming about going back ever since, but this was my first real opportunity. I was a little nervous, thinking that maybe my memories had grown more rosy as the time passed. What if it wasn't as wonderful as I remembered? But that turned out to be a needless fear.

We spent our first four nights on the north shore and the last three in Waikiki. If you have the chance to go to Hawaii, and you'll be on Oahu, I can't recommend the north shore enough. It requires renting a car, but it's so worth it! And driving around the island is part of the fun. Julie and I were always gaping out the windows at how beautiful everything was, and pulled over more than once just to see a beautiful vista or explore a beach by the side of the road. It's so much calmer than Honolulu - the perfect place to relax and unwind.

I had read that food in Hawaii is kind of overpriced, and not very good. But either we got lucky, or we're not very picky, because almost everything we ate was great. Being on vacation we embraced the spam musubis and turkey sandwiches (a novelty for me coming from Japan) from the convenience stores just as much as we did the fresh fruit and seafood.

After coming back Raku asked me what makes everyone talk about Hawaii like it's the best vacation spot ever, even better than other tropical locations. And I stumbled trying to put an answer into words (it just is, ok?!?) But I think it's a mixture of the intense beauty, the perfect climate, how friendly everyone is, how small and accessible the island is (I assume this is true of the others besides Oahu) and perhaps some special Hawaiian magic. 

So, if you ever have the chance, go! And in the meantime, try not to be annoyed at all the pictures I'm about to post.

First Night on the North Shore: Mokuleia Beach Park

Julie was obsessed with all the chickens

In winter the waves are giant on the north shore

More giant waves

This actually looked a lot better than it tasted 

The water was so rough that the Pipeline Master's surf competition was on hold for days

The Best Sister

It's even pretty when it's stormy

The view from Kualoa Regional Park 

Underwater Coral

Kayaking in Kaneohe Bay

 

Hanauma Bay

Passion Fruit Acai Bowl

Waikiki at Night

Macadamia nut pavlova with lemon curd and tropical fruit

The pool at the Surfjack Hotel

In my memories the light is always this golden

Beppu Getaway

Over the summer I took a short trip to Beppu, a hot spring resort town in Kyushu, with my friend Nicola. I can't believe it's taken me so long to write about it, but it was such a refreshing break from Tokyo. The scenery was beautiful, the food was delicious, and I never say no to a good onsen.

Before we left I had trouble finding very much information about the area in English. My old paper Japan guidebook doesn't even mention the town! I'm going to go a little heavy on details and photos, so brace yourselves. 

The biggest draw in Beppu is definitely the hot springs, and for the most part that means onsen, but there are also jigoku or "hells" - hot springs so hot they are meant to be viewed rather than bathed in. There are 7 jigoku, and you can easily take a bus to all of them, but we had the luxury of renting a car and going at our own pace because Nicola has a Japanese drivers license! Each jigoku charges 400 yen admission, or you can buy a 2000 yen pass that grants admission to all. The entire tour can be done in just a few hours, so I'd recommend doing all of them. If you're pressed for time though, Umi Jigoku and Onishibozu were the two most beautiful in my opinion. Additionally, Oniyama Jigoku breeds crocodiles - apparently they like the hot water - but we found it kind of cramped and depressing. Definitely skippable.

Of course, what I was really excited about were the onsen. But be forewarned, the waters in Beppu are hot! The onsen where we stayed was so hot that neither Nicola or I could actually get in the water. Several Japanese guests looked at us like we were insane as we yelped and leapt out of the water. But they did the same thing when they tried to get in, and then agreed with us that it was shockingly hot. After that experience I decided to go to Hyotan onsen, which is a big onsen complex geared towards tourists. I was excited that it included the chance for a hot sand bath, and because I thought it was most likely to have at least some water that was a tolerable temperature. Good news - I soaked in all the baths, and none of them were too hot for me.

While we were in Beppu we decided to drive out to Yufuin, another hot springs town nearby. I think it has a reputation of being a little fancier and more sophisticated than Beppu. In any case, it was beautiful. It has a main shopping street filled with food and shops like many tourist towns, and if you follow that road far enough it ends at a pretty lake. Yufuin is also known for dairy production, so there are all sorts of ice creams, cheese cakes, and other delicious treats available.

I feel silly admitting this since I've lived in Japan for so long, but this trip was the first time I've ever stayed in a ryokan. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn with tatami (woven straw) floors, futon mattresses on the floor, and communal baths. Ryokans can be fabulously luxurious, but ours was definitely no frills. It's also common to eat breakfast and dinner at a ryokan, but we did not. I was surprised by how comfortable the futon was, but this was definitely a place to sleep, not to linger.

Nicola and I were both surprised by the size of Beppu and the main shopping streets. We'd worried there wouldn't be many restaurants, particularly open on Sunday night, but there were plenty of options within a short stroll of our ryokan. Our top recommendations are Genova, an awesome takeout ice cream shop, Torisutei Honten, a yakitori (grilled chicken) restaurant, and Kihei Cafe, an adorable coffee shop with a delicious breakfast. We also had delicious burgers in Yufuin at Yufuin Burger, and you can't go wrong with any of the ice cream in town.

Our little ryokan room

Steam vents and structures are visible throughout Beppu

The grounds of Umi Jigoku

Umi Jigoku

Girls' Trip

Oniishibozu Jigoku

Shiraike Jigoku

Chinoike Jigoku

Tatsumaki Jigoku

Delicious burgers

Yufuin

You can see steam billowing up in the mountains

Cheesecake ice cream

The drive to Yufuin is gorgous

Genova Ice cream
Hours: 3:00-Midnight Mon-Sat, 3:00-10:00 Sun
Phone: 0977-22-6051
Address: 1-10-5 Kitahama, Beppu, Oita
Map

Yufuin Burger
Hours: 11:00-5:30, closed Wednesday
Phone: 0977-85-5220
Address: 3053-4 Yufuincho Kawakami, Yufu, Oita
Map

Torisutei Honten
Phone: 0977-22-3787
Address: 1-15-11 Kitahama, Beppu, Oita
Map

Kihei Cafe
Hours: 8:00-6:00,
Phone: 0977-23-1134
Address: 6-30 Fujimicho, Beppu, Oita
Map

Hyotan Onsen
Admission: 750 yen, sand bath additional 330 yen + towel rental
Hours: 9:00 am - 1:00 am
Phone: 0977-66-0527
Address: 159-2 Kannawa, Beppu, Oita
Map

Nogamihonkan Ryokan
Phone: 0977-22-1334
Address: 1-12-1 Kitahama, Beppu, Oita
Map