Kyoto, Shabu-zen (10 November 2010) Gion

Yeh! Another great Japanese cruisine!
It's all-you-can-eat, so make sure you go there with empty-stomach!

This is definitely the best shabu-shabu I have ever had thus far. Every bite was heavenly!

 Shabu-Zen at Gion, Kyoto

Address: 〒605-0074 京都府京都市東山区祇園町南側574 藤ビルB1 B1F, Fuji Bldg. 574, Minamigawa, Gioncho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto Kyoto 605-0074

From Shijo Station of Keihan Dentetsu Honsen - 2 min walk;
From Kawaramachi Station of Hankyu Kyoto-Line - 5 min walk.
Quite easy to find, just take a map with you.

We ordered the third All-You-Can-Eat which includes black-haired breed Wagyu beef, Hokaido crab, pork and vegetable.We got an additional 10 % discount from the voucher that we printed from the website before we left home.However, please note that the prices shown below is before tax.
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/fl/en/k017801/

Different sauces for different meats.

Plain water! That's the best 'soup' for the best meat!

Too anxious to try it, therefore didn't realise that this photo was out-of-focus.. same to other pictures here to..  :))

Beef. Is this what's called marbled meat?

Pork, as delicious as the beef!

Hokaido crab!

Cooked pork.

Even my son loves it! The best thing is, young child eat for free!!

A little bid overcooked crab.

The pretty waitresses gave us re-fill without any hesitation. So remember, go there with empty stomach, best after a long and tiring walk!

After the very satisfying dinner, we had a walk at Gion Street, this is 花见小路. It was very cold that night, my hands were shivering.

It was below 10 Celsius that night, we were worried that our son might get cold, thus we didn't spend much time there....in fact, our son did fell sick after that night :(


My Japan Itinerary

Kyoto (Kinkaku-ji, Golden Pavilion) 10 Nov 2010

Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺, Temple of the Golden Pavilion)


Wikipedia:-

The top two stories of the pavilion are covered with pure gold leaf. The pavilion functions as a shariden, housing relics of the Buddha (Buddha's Ashes). The building was an important model for Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion Temple), and Shokoku-ji, which are also located in Kyoto.

Kinkakuji can be accessed from Kyoto Station by direct Kyoto City Bus number 101 or 205 in about 40 minutes and for 220 yen. Alternatively, it can be faster and more reliable to take the Karasuma Subway Line to Kitaoji Station (15 minutes, 250 yen) and take a taxi (10 minutes, around 900 yen) or bus (10 minutes, 220 yen, bus numbers 101, 102, 204 or 205) from there to Kinkakuji.

Note that it is at the Northern side of Kyoto, the journey can eat out quite some of your time. The garden is huge, you need to cater at least an hour for it.

Open : 9am to 5pm

Admission fee: JPY400

Entrance to the garden

UNESCO World Heritage


On the way walking to the pavilion






Marvelous!!





A group of teenagers wearing kimono visiting the pavilion too.

Zen...

Rock..



Pavilion from the side



The golden pavilion from the back. The first two floors are covered by gold leaf.





My happy son

 
Tea house





Where the shogun had tea, a very simple tea house overlooking the plush pavilion.




The Kinkakuji is fabulous and really breathtaking. It is really worth a visit. Heard the view is even more breathtaking during winter.
How I wish I had more time so that I could visit the Silver Pavilion, Ginkakuki which was modeling after this Kinkakuji.

Kyoto (Nishiki Market) Nov 2010

NISHIKI MARKET in Kyoto

I love exploring markets wherever I go, because I think it is the best place to see the locals. We had our lunch there.

Japan guide:

Nishiki Market is a narrow, shopping street, lined by more than one hundred shops. Various kinds of fresh and processed foods including many Kyoto specialties, such as pickles, Japanese sweets, dried food, sushi, and fresh seafood and vegetables are sold.

Known as "Kyoto's Kitchen", Nishiki Market has a history of several centuries, and many stores have been operated by the same families for generations.

The Nishiki Market street runs parallel to Shijo Avenue, one block north of Shijo Avenue. It can be reached on foot in less than 5 minutes from Shijo Station on the Karasuma Subway Line (4 minutes, 200 Yen from Kyoto Station) and Karasuma or Kawaramachi Stations on the Hankyu Line.

We took a bus from Kiyomizudera to Shijo Avenue.









Wikipedia:

松茸（学名：Tricholoma matsutake）是屬於口蘑科口蘑屬下的一種食用蕈類，具有獨特的濃郁香味，在日本被視為食用蕈中的極品，可以說松茸之於日本人就猶如松露之於法國人。
松茸好生於養份不多而且比較乾燥的林地，一般在秋季生成，通常寄生於赤松、偃松、鐵杉、日本鐵杉的根部，也有寄生在黑松根部的例子，但較為少見。日本人稱在非時令的梅雨季節長出的松茸為「早松」（サマツ^[1]），價值更高，或作為特級食材，或作為討吉利的象徵。
松茸的稀有不僅是因為其成長速度緩慢，也是因為採集困難。松茸一旦突出地面並張開蕈傘， 其香氣就會大量逸失，吃起來的味道也變差，經濟價值自然大幅滑落。因此，松茸的採集必須在松茸剛露頭的時候就連根挖出，是一項要求高度的觀察力與豐富的經 驗的工作。雖然一直有人嘗試進行商業化的大量裁培，然而迄今仍未有足以量產的成果，所以目前市面上所販賣的松茸幾乎都還是人力上山採集而來的。

Look at the price, JPY98,000!






A shrine at the end of the market. The lantons were donated by the stores owners.




There are some shops selling clothes, but we didn't bother to shop as we were rushing to the Golden Pavilion which is located at the far end of Northern Kyoto.