With The Berry-licious Stories
A season has past and spring is coming soon. Guess I should really have to be more hardworking and work harder on the backlogs. Autumn is a romantic season, the weather is chilling and joyful; with the sun up high in the sky but you …
Nikko is a small town that lead to Nikko National Park. A picturesque place, completed with Japan’s most astonishing shrine; the scenic lake; and it is best to come here in autumn for koyo! I was there in late September and it was just barely …
Love in Khao Yai A merely 2.5 hours’ drive from Bangkok; Khao Yai is the UNESCO World Heritage Site, where it housed the third largest national park of Thailand which is spread across 4 provinces (Saraburi, Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Ratchasima and Prachinburi. Gifted with the …
Basic Wine Store Located at Arcoris Mont Kiara, Basic Wine Store is a casual wine shop and bistro offering a wide selection of natural wine and modern European fares that are truly comforting. Their simple one page menu is available from dinner onwards. It covers …
Tsuruga Castle Tsuruga Castleis one of the Japan’s most famous 100 castles. It is the only castle with red tiled roof in Japan. The castle we get to see nowadays is the reconstructed of the original castle as the original one was destroyed during the …
Sushi Azabu
Sushi Azabu has relocated to ground floor of ISETAN KLCC. It is now set in an elegant and sophisticated setting, dressed with a mystery but intimate atmosphere; offering the authentic Edomae sushi.
It was our sushi gang Jessie’s birthday; we decided to splurge for her special’s day! She picked the place and here we were! My last few experiences with Sushi Azabu were quite some time ago in The ISETAN Japan Store KL, during their special Sushi X Sake event and the Xmas event , so here was the time for their usual Omakase course.
We had the 14-course omakase that is priced at Rm 338+ (Rm 392 nett included tax), this comes with an appetiser, a side dish, 6 pieces of seasonal nigiri and 2 kinds of tuna nigiri, rolled sushi, gyoku, miso soup and ended with a dessert.
Shinpei-san in action; the executive chef of Sushi Azabu – Shinpei Kujiraoka.
A huge thank you to the birthday girl Jessie! We got to savour this exquisite Kubota Manjyu Original Yeast YX that comes with a deep mellow texture, very elegant and mega aromatic. Corkage is at Rm 150.
Continue reading Sushi Azabu @ ISETAN KLCC, Kuala Lumpur
Come to Yamagata , one must savour the yamagata beef! We researched pin-pointed a few restaurants that offer grilled beef or yakiniku before travelling to this area. Finally we picked up this KAKI Kiwami that is located very close to our hotel. For full itinerary, …
Gyoza Izakaya Dandadan Located in One Mont Kiara, Gyoza Izakaya Dandadan is a gyoza izakaya chain with over 130 outlets in Japan; specializes in the juicy gyoza and interesting izakaya bites. You may find the original juicy grilled gyoza, and also gyoza with toppings such …
Ginzan Onsen
Ginzan Onsen is a very small onsen town nestled deep in the mountains of Yamagata Prefecture. It is a very scenic little town and famous for its snow-capped views during winter time; the bathhouses and ryokans are blanketed with a thick layer of snow, creating a stark contrast of white against the wooden buildings.
For full itinerary, check out JAPAN TRIP 2024: 11D10N in Yamagata, Sendai, Aizu Wakamatsu & Tokyo
I would say travelling to Ginzan Onsen is pretty hard one because of its rare and limited public transport that takes you into the town. To get here, one will have to take train from JR Yamagata Station to JR Oishida Station (about 50 minutes on local train / 30 minutes on Shinkansen). Then, take the bus from Oishida Station to Ginzan Onsen. The journey is about 35 – 40 minutes. One way bus ride is priced at ¥1,000 per pax (as of March 2024)
The bus only runs 4 to 5 times a day; at 9.50am, 12.35pm, 2.10pm, 3.55pm and 5.45pm (sometimes). It is very limited and so you will really have to plan your journey very well. We researched and planned well to arrive at JR Oshida Station at about 9.30-ish in the morning so that we could catch the 9.50am bus into Ginzan Onsen, and travel out at around 2 to 3pm.
Sounds like a great plan we had but our plan didn’t run bright. The 8.50-ish am shinkansen from JR Yamagata Station was cancelled! And we didn’t manage to catch the local train that left around that time too. It left us stranded a while at JR Yamagata Station until the next local train.
Soon after we arrived at the JR Oshida Station, we exited the train station and walked towards the roundabout at the front of the station, there was this warehouse-liked bus waiting room on the left. We entered, put our belongings to “queue” so that we were on the queue for the next bus at 12.35pm
Alternatively, if there are 4 of you on the group, you may hail a taxi from the station into Ginzan Onsen. It gonna cost about ¥5,000 per way and to work out the math, it quite worth the journey as you do not have to wait too long for the bus.
If you are planning to visit Ginzan Onsen, do note that there is a new rule (as of winter 2024) whereby they limit the amount of visitors to enter Ginzan onsen by each hour. So better do more research before going there.
Had fun taking photos around while waiting for our bus at 12.35pm
Continue reading YAMAGATA: Ginzan Onsen – The Nostalgic Onsen Town
Bistro Léa Located at the quieter side of a neighbourhood in Sri Hartamas, Bistro Léa is another baby by the couple behind Atelier Bichotan and JUS Resto Bar . It is a casual French dining restaurant that offers the French bistro cuisine, totally a new …
Mimi Daifuku 米米福 Nestled in Kota Damansara, Mimi Daifuku is a Japanese-influenced café specializing in the Japanese wagashi Daifuku. This little café is really cute and zen-ish. Filled with bamboo and lush green surrounding; make you feel as though you are in a zen garden, …
