In My Kitchen with Paula

Exploring the Heart of Japan: A Tale of Temples, Tastes, Teens and Traditions

• Paula Mohammed • Episode 11

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Peeling back the layers of Japan, one trip at a time.

In the season three premiere, Paula recounts her enriching and flavorful trip to Japan with her 17-year-old son, weaving through the cultural, historical, and culinary landscapes that have been a part of her life since childhood, thanks to her father's business ventures. 

Paula offers a detailed itinerary of their journey, from the bustling streets of Tokyo to the serene onsen culture in Yufuin and the culinary delights discovered along the way.. Alongside sharing planning tools and advice for spontaneous travel, Paula emphasizes the profound respect and kindness experienced throughout her trip, underscoring the deep impact of Japanese culture and food on her journey.

These are just a few of the topics covered:

  • Planning the Ultimate Japan Trip (for Paula): Insights and Itinerary 
  • Exploring the Onsen Culture and Rural Japan
  • Cycling the Shimanami Kaido
  • Navigating Japan: Luggage Shipping and Local Tips
  • Kyoto: Embracing Tradition and Culture
  • Reflections and Travel Tips

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In My Kitchen creates connections one dish at a time, by exploring culture through food. I do this through unique culinary workshops, speaking engagements, and of course, this podcast.

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[00:00:00] Welcome back everybody. Season three, kicks off. The timing was perfect. I just came back from a. Wonderful and interesting trip and very tasty trip to Japan. I'm sharing that here in this episode, what was going to be what I thought a 10 minute episode. Has turned into about a 40 minute episode, but I share everything more info in the show notes. Feel free to email me at Paula at, In My Kitchen dot CA. Or message me on Instagram at, In My Kitchen, Paula, if you have any questions or want any further details, 

I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think let's get right to it. 

Hi, I'm Paula Mohamed and welcome to In My Kitchen with Paula. This podcast is a gathering place for culinary adventures who love to travel. Every week, we'll come together with chefs, cookbook authors, talented home cooks, and everyone in between to talk about their story and their unique dish. Using food as the vehicle, we'll take a ride into the ins and outs of their culture and [00:01:00] country.

Come on, let's get this party started. 

I went with my 17 year old son and we had a fantastic time. So just to give you some background, why this trip. Was special for me for different reasons. I grew up. My father going to Japan twice a year, every year, for, as long as I can remember, his business was in a exporting importing business and his main customers were in Japan. 

I grew up with these stories about Japan. I do have specific memories of him telling me that to help get rid of the jet lag. Once he got to his hotel. He'd go for run around. Castle, I think he said, or it was, temple. 

I'm not sure which. And, it was always humid. He would go in may. I think he also had in October, but in may I remember him saying it was always so humid. And we talk about the food. My father was a businessman and entrepreneur later in life. 

We would do some role playing when I [00:02:00] was, when I was younger and he would pretend to be the Japanese customer and I would be him and we'd practice negotiations. Japan has been on my mind for many, many years. My brother now goes regularly and I hear his story. 

See his pictures. Anyway, fast forward and. I wanted to do this trip. So I won't get into the logistics of it all, but I realized that I had this window of time to do it. 

And that was in March and with my older son. , I booked the flights. They were much more expensive than I expected. Although the Yen is very low. So many people are traveling to Japan right now. Uh, probably because the yen is low, that the airfare from Vancouver, Canada was still quite high, but I just committed. 

I booked the flights and I decided I'd figure out the rest. I want to share with you in this. A short podcast. My itinerary, what I did, how I planned it, and just some stories and my thoughts a little bit. It was. [00:03:00] Better than I expected and, and in different ways. We have the flights booked and next is where to go in Japan. 

So although I grew up with the Japanese culture, being a huge influence in my life, I actually didn't know. I'm embarrassed to say. I really didn't know too much about the geography of Japan. 

Where are the different areas where. My first phone call of course, was to my brother who goes there all the time. And he immediately said, oh, you need to go here. Here, here. Blah, blah, blah. But it was quite a few places and I knew there's no way we could do all of it. We were going to go for 10 days. I started to do what I do. 

And this is also a little bit of insight into how I plan a trip. But I just start super high level. I just need to get a sense of the major areas and then figure out what kind of trip I want to have. I found this great website, uh, Japan guide.com. And they have this map [00:04:00] and you can hover over each area and it'll give you a very high level description. Of what you can expect in that area. 

That immediately helped me decide. The areas that I wanted to go to. Uh, and again, I had booked the flights committed, but I'll be honest with you. I was, I was still moving commendations around and figuring out our itinerary. Easily a week or less. Before we actually left for Japan. I'll tell you why I can do this and not get stressed out. I'll come back to that. So I figured out the areas we wanted to go to. 

And there were some things that I wanted to experience while in Japan. I wanted to see and experience the culture of Japan. I really wanted to get out of the big cities and I wanted to see how people live and. If you've been listening to my podcast episodes and the interviews that I have with guests, This'll be no surprise. 

I'm always looking for. The story behind [00:05:00] the person we could be talking about. A very specific topic, but I inevitably want to know more about that person. Same as Japan, same like a country. I wanted to know, not just the culture, but I really wanted to get a feel for the people and the places. I started looking a little more rural. 

I quickly realized that. The route seems to be for a lot of people, Tokyo. Osaka and Kyoto. Um, those three areas with day trips from Kyoto, you can do day trips from Kyoto to Nara. Which people go, I think mostly to see the deer there. And then you can also go down to Hiroshima. Spend a night. So I was torn because I, after doing some research realized I was going to really like Kyoto. 

It seemed to have this nice mix. Of the culture and history. But also the city that sort of modern and traditional, and it's famous for its food [00:06:00] and sake a as well. Was thinking about just staying there for a week and doing day trips from that area. But then I also decided I wanted to do a little bit of cycling if possible in Japan. And my brother said, you have to experience the onsen. Culture. The onsen is the hot Springs. And having been to Japan now. Because when you first start planning your trip to Japan, you're going to hear people talk about. Ryokan and Onsens and. I think the proper pronunciation is Ryokan and onsen. So the Onsen is the hot Springs. The Yukon is the traditional Japanese accommodation, and I'm not using them what term hotel necessarily, because it can be different than what we perceive as a hotel. It doesn't necessarily mean that the two of them go hand in hand. So it's the Onsen culture. 

When you go to [00:07:00] Japan that I think you're going to want to experience. And I now can say that that's very similar to what I have learned about as the Finnish Sauna culture. And this way of,

Traveling and relaxing that families in Japan do. Whole families will travel to Onsens ends, stay in Ryokan as a family. And for a night and then go to another Onsen and stay in another Ryokan and go and have Onsen. So you'd go out to the. To the hot spring some are, just for that. Accommodation. 

Some are public baths. The other thing about these experiences is the meals. You typically have a Kaiseki meal now I can tell you a little bit more about what a kaiseki meal is. Cause I used to throw that around and I didn't really understand, but it's basically. Beautifully presented. [00:08:00] Dinner that's made up of, different dishes. 

 Typically you would have the, see if I can get this right. You would have a soup, something that was grilled. Pickles, of course, by the end of our trip Frazer and are like, oh gosh, more pickles. More pickles. Okay. I think we were getting a little too used to the pickled vegetables. Uh, you'd have some rice. typically there'd always be a fish as well. I decided to look in this, Kyushu, which is one of the islands. of Japan. 

And I discovered this area called the Oita Prefecture. It has an airport international airport actually. Then I stumbled across a place called Yufuin and I pronounce it. Yufuin it's spelled Y U F U I N. I believe if you're in Japan, it's pronounced. Is close to how it's pronounced. I saw that this was a place that is well known for its Onsens and I stumbled across a, uh, great. Ryokan or Ryokan [00:09:00] 

and just like my brother said, book it now. Cause it'll, they'll fill up. We ended up with two nights there because I thought we actually flew from Tokyo down to Oita. That was from the Haneda airport in Tokyo to And it was about an hour and a half flight hour 45, not expensive at all. , like a hundred bucks or $120. 

I think. And so if we're down in that area, I decided we'd spent two nights there. You don't need two nights in a. Ryokan but I'll tell you, it certainly was nice. And you have to understand too, that the trip I did may not be the trip you're looking for. This was a trip I did with my 17 year old son. I haven't had a chance to spend much time with him over the past year and he's going to be heading off to university. 

 It was a time that I've just kind of wanted to have him all to myself. He was coming off of a stressful term. We went down, we relaxed. You go off to your own. Onsen. And so there is different [00:10:00] outdoor, hot Springs. Down there. And they were private to the Ryokan that we were staying in. 

So there is men's and women's and you put on your, Yukata, the best way I can explain it as your lounge wear. And then you go and you go into the Onsen naked, but prior to that, It's very important that you wash and you have no lotions on your anything. So there will always be these showers there. And then little stools that you sit on and you scrub yourself down and then you go into the onsen and it's interesting because as much as, my perception of Japanese. People or the culture is very polite, very kind more reserved. They seem so comfortable in their bodies and it just reminded me how in north America. We seem to be that anomaly where we're a little bit more. Self-conscious I guess. 

It was a great two days you feel in was, uh, Pleasant [00:11:00] surprise. What a neat little, I don't know whether to call it a village or a town. But it is got one major street. Now, when I say street, it's mostly a pedestrian street, although there would be cars squeezing in and out, and that street is lined. With different food stores and rest, not so much restaurants. Not even eateries, but somewhere where you just, that. Where they specialize in one item or there would be, , an ER. Aroma therapy place. 

Just really neat boutiquey little places. And then I quickly started realizing that it was also famous for some food items that they had and specific dishes that they had. So we had breakfast and dinner, which is typical. Our Ryokan and we wandered that street all day, one day, and it was so much fun. 

It actually snowed, which was very unexpected. Even every, all the locals were quite surprised. Uh, nobody really spoke English, so that's always fun. [00:12:00] We discovered that they're also famous for a lime down there and I'm going to pronounce it wrong. Uh, I want to say Kobasa. Uh, but I'm just going to look it up here. 

So I get this right. Kabosu. Yeah. Kabosu citrus. To a lime, it's a little bit sour and you'll see it throughout. And, and Yufuin, and it was, you know, It was peanuts covered in, um, cabasa there would be chocolate, there would be cookies. Like it was just everywhere and it was really good. 

So we really enjoyed Yufuin. Then from there we took a bus.

And we then hopped on the. Shinkansen. So the Shinkansen you'll hear lots about that's the bullet train in Japan.

And that took us to Hiroshima or Hiroshima. And we just had half a day there, but we got out and we hit the [00:13:00] ground running and we went to the museum. You have to go to the Hiroshima peace museum, very moving. I think if you go to Japan, it's important to make it that trip to Hiroshima. 

I'm really glad we did anyway. And there's, there's sort of some three key. Touristy spots that you hit there, but it's, it's important. I think to see it. My son really wanted to see the castle there as well. When we're in Tokyo, of course you went to, um, some of the shrines and temples there. I'll just back up. 

I didn't really talk about Tokyo there for a second, when we were in Tokyo, , we only had one sort of full day there, but we went to the Senso-JI temple Asakusa and that was really interesting. It was a beautiful sunny day and there was some kind of festival going on there as well. 

I can't tell you what it was. We wandered the streets of Tokyo. so much to discover there. Okay. So back to Hiroshima, we took the train from Hiroshima to [00:14:00] Onamichi. Onamichi is still part of the Hiroshima prefecture. And then we hopped on a ferry to Ikuchi-Jima and this is one of the Geiyo islands in the Seto inland sea. 

So the reason why we're going there is this is where I was getting my cycling fix. It has these connectors that connects these six islands and you can go from owner Onomichi to Imabari and it's 70 kilometers and there's a cycling lane all the way and it looks. It just looked fantastic. 

I stumbled across it. When I was doing some research, I think I probably put into Google cycling in Japan and this popped up and it's called the Shimanami-kaido. To get bikes in Onomichi. She put them on the ferry. And then hop off and start cycling. And cycle for one day for about four at three to four hours. Stay on Jima island cycle the next half and arrive in Imabari sorry. [00:15:00] But, you know, as we are getting closer and closer to our trip, I think almost like the day before we were leaving. I realized just didn't have enough days to make this happen. I need to let you know, too originally we were going for 10 days and then I extended it by three days. 

I didn't have room to make it even longer. So what we did instead is we took the ferry straight to, it Ikuchi-Jima Island. We. Hopped by two other islands. And we went straight to the place that we were staying at and they, I discovered rented bikes. So we grabbed a couple of their bikes. And we went biking that day for about three or four hours. And the Shema NAMI Kaido and I got my cycling fix. And these connectors are probably two to 400 meters long, super high there's cars on them. 

But then you also have this lane for two-way traffic for bikes. And it was so fun. One thing I would say [00:16:00] is everything that we read is it's super easy cycling. Well, it's a good climb up to each connector. So keep that in mind if you are going. And just a side note, I think they do a Fondo style event in October, every other October. And the next one coming up is this October. I would be interested in going back and doing that again. We stayed at a place on Jima island called. Uh, Azumi said. Uh, Zumi set. Azumi Setoda. That's right. 

Cause the area that we're staying on is called And Ikuchi-Jima is famous. We discovered for the for their lemons Setoda lemons. There'd be just these orchards of these beautiful lemon trees everywhere. Yeah, it was amazing there. They're they're sour, but not too sour. And this place we stayed in, I'm actually, hoping to be having the general manager as a guest on the, In My Kitchen with Paula show. She was lovely and this place was, I can't even describe it. 

It [00:17:00] was all Cypress. It was bright. Beautiful. Inspired by the Ryokan type of stay, but it also had a modern flare to it. It used to be the home mansion of a. Affluent, merchant family. And they actually, what was really cool is when you go for dinner, which was a whole other experience, one of the best meals I've had in my life actually,

 They, they serve some of the dinner on the original dishes from that family, which for those of you that know me know that I just love that.

 That was a really, quite a special state. We had a full day there. We made the most of it. It's such a neat little area. I would like to go back and explore that region more again. Not a lot of English spoken, which I love. I should back up to when we were in Yufuin. there were no tourists from north America there that we saw, but lots of tourists. 

And apparently when I asked, mostly from Hong Kong and [00:18:00] Taiwan, that was really neat to be in a, sort of a different type of population as well. Okay, so we're in Ikuchi-Jima. We had this amazing stay. It left, an imprint for on both Fraser and I. And then the next day we had to Osaka. 

 I didn't have enough time in Osaka. I need to go back and spend some more time there, I had to make a toss up and decided to spend most of our time. And Kyoto versus Osaka and Tokyo. We took the ferry back to Onomichi and then we took one train and then another train. Um, well, the second one was actually again, the Shinkansen so it's always fun to ride the bullet train. And there's a whole podcast I could do on the. The train systems in Japan. 

And for those of you, who've been to Japan. You'll know exactly what I mean. When I say, once you go, once you need to go back to Japan, because you finally have figured out the vibe and the flow and, and how this [00:19:00] transportation system works, that you can really leverage it. 

So I didn't have culture shock him in Japan, but I certainly, I would say had some transportation, uh, shock. I don't know how to explain it. But it was fun to figure out we worked our way to Osaka and we had one night at Osaka and we stayed in the most touristy area, but I knew it would be fun for my son. And it was in the Dontonbori area. vibrant, everything you hear about, restaurants, all lined up along those covered arcade shopping malls. 

 Boats going down the daunting brewery. I felt like I was in Vegas a little bit. I'll be honest. I didn't love it. And , I'm I say that very hesitantly very quietly because, Everybody loves a Osaka and somebody who does what I do, who explores. Culture through the lens of food should really love Osaka, because that is the food capital [00:20:00] of Japan. The reason why I didn't love it though, is we were in a certain area for a very short period of time. I need to go back to a socket and explore it more and spend more time there. 

But I was getting great advice from our, In My Kitchen, host Naomi and I have two episodes. Where she's been a guest on in my kitchen and we talk all about Japan and you'll definitely want to listen to those because. She shares so much about, what to see and do. Anyway, Naomi had planned my day in Osaka. 

She didn't actually tell me where to stay. I chose to stay where we stayed. She may have suggested somewhere else. When I think about it. But she told Frazer got to go to this certain area and it's all vintage clothes shopping. So it's where all the young kids hang out, pop culture. It was great. 

He loved it. We just walked into, a small eatery. And when I say small, it was really small. And we didn't know really what it was. It looked [00:21:00] like ramen, but we walked in, nobody spoke English and oh, Piece of advice. Just a side note here. Take the side streets in every city that you go in, especially if you're in. Osaka, Tokyo and Kyoto. Start just going down the side streets. 

It's a much better, in my opinion, a better experience. So this was one of those side streets and, uh, yeah, nobody spoke English and the man in front of me, there's a vending machine. It looks like a vending machine, all in Japanese, no pictures. And he pushed one button. Then he pushed another button and then he put some money in and then two tickets came out. And then I was watching and then those tickets go to the chef. 

And then there's one long table that everybody sets up can seat about a dozen people. That's it? The chef takes your tickets. He makes whatever's on those tickets. And then you get handed your. Your meal. So I just pushed what this man pushed. I had no idea what I was getting my son pushed a different button. I scored big [00:22:00] time. 

Oh. And then the chef came out and was saying.

Something to me, I realize now what he was saying was medium. Small, medium, small, large. And I said, medium. I realize now that's for the amount of noodles that you want. If I'm wrong, somebody send me an email and let me know, but I'm pretty sure that was for the amount of noodles that you want or the amount of broth. 

I'm not sure. I think noodles. I got this wonderful ramen we didn't realize it, but we were having our lunch in a place that serves a specific style of ramen. And this, specific style of ramen is calls to Tsukemen. And I, I figured this out afterwards, but Separates the soup. So the broth and the ramen noodles into different dishes. You grab a mouthful. Uh, with your chopsticks of the noodles and you dip them into the sauce element and kind of slurp them in. 

 This originated apparently in, Tokyo, by someone named Kazuo [00:23:00] Yamagishi. We have this end, my second ticket. Remember I pushed too well. That came with some, that was pork belly. So I was in heaven my son's was also very good, but his broth was a different flavor. There's, , water jugs on the table that everyone shares. 

I poured some water and then there looks like, I'm like, oh, Frazer, look, this is tea. So I poured myself some tea and took a sip. And quickly realized it's not T. It was warm. Um, and I, then I thought, oh, Frazer, I think it's extra broth. If you want to add more broth. And then we pulled out Google translate because there was a handwritten note. It's actually a citrus infused. Broth, I think it's almost like a ponzu they warn you only add one or two tablespoons men here. 

I had just taken a big sip. But I think that so that you don't mess up the balance of the fat and the citrus and the flavor of the broth. So let's go back. So this is our day in Osaka. So [00:24:00] what Naomi has said to us, and what I failed to mentioned is we actually got right on board with the whole shipping of your luggage ahead of you to your next hotel. This is very common.

When Naomi first suggested to me when I was in Vancouver, that we do this. I looked at her I first reaction was really, are you, are you sure it's going to get there safely and I'll never forget. Naomi looked at me like I was from Mars and said, well, of course it was it's Japan. And man was she right? 

So a few times we did this, we'd ship our luggage. It would get delivered from one hotel to the next, or if you're not staying somewhere that has door to door delivery. You Naomi gave me the app and then Yamamoto, I think is the name of the delivery company. And you start seeing their little vans everywhere in Japan. 

It's like how we see Amazon trucks in Vancouver. That's how we were able to do the cycling. We just, we had backpacks plus a suitcase, [00:25:00] so we'd ship our suitcases ahead. And then we would put clothes and things in our backpacks. And we did that, I think three times on this trip. One of those times was, Osaka to Kyoto. It also allowed us to then check out of our hotel. 

Our bags had already gone. They'll arrive the next day. Keep that in mind. And we went to, uh, the castle and that was, that was great. And again, that was a suggestion from Naomi. So when planning your trip, if you, whatever advice you can get from people. Yes. Someone like me, who's been to Japan. 

Great. You'll get, you know, you'll kind of get on the same route as everybody else, but if you can talk to somebody who has, lived in Japan, who is from Japan, who can give you that? You know, real life. Behind the scenes knowledge. Super helpful. The podcasts are, in my opinion, a great way to do that. 

We have a couple podcast episodes coming up with Naomi, which I highly recommend. [00:26:00] Uh, you listened to as well. 

We go to Kyoto and we were spending three nights in Kyoto. I was really looking forward to Kyoto. I didn't know much about it before, except what I'd learned from Naomi she's from a Kobe, which is not far from Kyoto. After doing my research. Decided to stay in the Higashiyama area, which is where. A lot of the temples and shrines are a little quieter. Where the Geiko geisha. 

We say, district is. And I'm really glad we did. With my older son, I realized now we probably could have just stayed in the downtown area. We spent a lot of time there. And I was told you can walk everywhere in Kyoto and it's true. 

So it did cost more to stay in the Higashiyama area. I'm really glad I did because I got a real feel for. That cultural piece. If you're going with a family, I don't know. I think you could stay in the downtown area. We [00:27:00] walked over to the downtown area, every day. It's just cross the bridge and off you go. 

We did a lot of shopping there, again, the yen is really low. I'm not a big shopper, but discovered my teenage son has grown into, , a very good shopper. And, uh, we hit some vintage shops. He actually got his grad suit. That's another story I'll happy to share with you another time. But yes, it was a good time to go and we had a lot of fun. . I was surprised at how interested my son was in the, um, culture and history of Japan and actually how much he knew. He knew a lot more than I did about the politics of Japan. 

The history. He was watching the new the new Shogun series, which is great if you haven't watched it. I was reading art of the rising sun, a kind of cheesy nineties novel. Also, it was interesting and fun to reread. So we decided that we were both kind of immersed in this history and culture that this would be a good idea to get a, a guide. [00:28:00] Or else we were going to miss out on so much of what Kyoto has the off offer. 

So Kyoto is. , in my opinion, the cultural. Hub of, of Japan and, , so much history there. So we had a fabulous guide. Her name was Yoko, and, we spent eight hours together and I'm so glad we did that. There's lots of different ways you can do tours in Kyoto. You could do a cycling one. The one we did, you might want to do a little more research than I had done it and, figure out. Which temples castles, which areas you want to hit. We hit the top touristy ones. Uh, but it was very interesting. 

And for me, , I really enjoyed seeing the, , the golden temple. And the gardens were lovely. So that was a full day there. We had amazing meals, of course, and Kyoto Kyoto's famous for their cuisine. And also famous for their Sake. I ended up drinking Saki quite a bit in Japan. [00:29:00] At room temperature. 

I say that because I'd grown up having Sake warm or hot. Thinking about it now I'm wondering if it just, wasn't a very good Sakhi and that's why it gets heated up. I'll have to ask somebody about that. The reason why Kyoto is famous for their Sake the food is Kyoto. Cuisine is seasonal. 

So it's all about freshness and, what's in season and again, kaiseki small dishes, but I love that way of eating. We had actually a lot of dinners too, where we would just walk into a little. Eatery. And we would have these meals where you just cook your own, meat, vegetable on the like, these above it. 

There's these chimneys that are built that come out of the ceilings to , to ventilate .

 Oftentimes it was a Wagyu beef. So again, Naomi said to Paula, you could pay a hundred dollars for a piece of Kobe beef. But Wagyu is readily available and much less expensive. Wagyu, that's [00:30:00] not Kobe beef and she was right. We had it quite a few times and it was delicious. The Sake, the reason why it is Kyoto sake, sought after is a apparently, because though Kyoto water is so soft. Lovely time and Kyoto definitely need to go back and spend more time there. And then we went to Tokyo back to Tokyo.

Initially when we started this trip, I wasn't that keen to spend too much time in Tokyo. I wanted to spend more time in Osaka or Kyoto at the end. I'm glad we ended up with two nights in Tokyo Fraser, and I talked about it afterwards and it actually worked out well, especially if you have a teenager. That wants to do some shopping. 

And the Japanese yen is very, very low. We also decided though, right before we left Vancouver, I wanted to do, actually I didn't decide this. I bumped into a friend in the grocery store and she'd been in Japan and she said, Paula, You need to meet up with Yukari from food [00:31:00] sake, Tokyo. I immediately went home and looked at food, sake, Tokyo. 

If you're interested in Japan and Japanese cuisine, follow her on Instagram @foodsaketokyo . I'll put it in the show notes . So I was now that we got a time to do a, I think we did a three hour food tour with Yukari. So she is a very interesting person and I'm hoping she'll be a guest on, in my kitchen with Paula in the near future. Yukari is very knowledgeable about the food and cuisine in Japan. 

She was born in Japan, lived in the states for awhile, back in Japan. And we met her on our first day. So again, we shipped our luggage ahead to the hotel. She met us off the Shinkansen on the platform, which is really cool to have somebody actually meet you on the platform. We were in the Tokyo station, which, is huge. 

She navigated us to the lockers. We [00:32:00] checked our backpacks. And off we went and we were in the Nihonbashi district, that was the area I picked. And I'm so glad we did. It was a little ways out of the sort of crowded touristy areas. When we were in Tokyo at the beginning of our trip, we went to the Tsukiji market, which is a must, unfortunately it's super touristy. 

Now my brother was telling me stories in the nineties when he was living there or would be there for business trips. And after being out with the customers. He'd go down there late at night for, A snack late at night. , I just don't see that is what's happening there now. Anyway, the Nihonbashi district's

this is an area. I don't want to say too much. Cause I hope people will go in and just discover it on their own and do a tour with Yukari. But it's where the original market used to be. So you cross over a little bridge. And that river, which of course, I can't remember the name of now, but that's where the fish market used to be on the river. And then the streets would be [00:33:00] lined with small. Little stores, each one specializing in their own. specialty and that was the market. Then the first department store of, in Japan was built and it was fashioned after Harrod's 

they actually went and studied. The Harrods, came back and built. Th this department store in Nihonbashi. So this is where we also discovered. Deepa-chica. When you go to Japan, you have to go and experience a Deepa-chica. There on the B one level of department stores. 

So the basement level. They're high-end. Foods and dishes and ingredients, but that prepared meals that you can take away, but of course, everything , is beautifully presented in Japan. You know, you eat with your eyes. It's a huge, huge part of it. This is where I discovered, um, the type of Mirin I should be getting the Sake. 

I should be getting this amazing salt. Naively, I thought, oh, I'll come back or I'll go [00:34:00] into another one before we leave. The only thing I actually bought, well, we bought some snacks, but I bought this, salt that I love that. Tastes like. Umami umami is that fifth taste in Japanese cuisine, kind of a very addictive, savory taste. And then I discover you can't get the Mirin 

and in Vancouver, like it is in Japan because of the alcohol content. So again, I need to go back or if you happen to be going, let me know. I'm going to tell you. Some salts and mirin and to bring back. We had a great day with Jacari, a great few hours. We started off by having a tempura lunch. And again, this is a small little place. 

It was very inexpensive. I think it was maybe $12 each. People will go and pay over $200 for this type of experience. Partly because it's at lunchtime as much less expensive, but also you just go where the locals go. On their lunch break and or you find Yukari. That's what I would recommend. Go with [00:35:00] her. You sit at the bar you're being served, temporary pieces after temporary pieces and other little dishes, and you're watching them make it, and it's not Tempur. When I have it here and I feel a bit. You know, heavy and off afterwards, it's very light. 

, it was really good. Yeah, the rest of our time in Tokyo, we shopped and we went to Shibuya. , crossing of course, which is where you see. I forget how many people I want to say, oh, I forget million people crossing a day. Um, but we actually went the opposite direction 

and explored. Takeshita street. And Harajuku which we really liked we also went to Shinjuku. So Harajuku. I just fell in love with this little neighborhood. I, I think it's cause it's just a little bit quieter. Again, for my son, there was a lot of vintage, vintage clothes shopping there as well. 

And then we hopped on our flight and [00:36:00] came home. That's our itinerary. I'm always happy to share. Anything with you? Feel free to send me an email or I was posting quite a bit on Instagram at, In My Kitchen, Paula. You can DM me there as well, or email Paula at, In My Kitchen dot CA. I will say too, I I'll put it in the show notes, but. For those of you that don't know I did Decades of event production planning. 

 I've had a couple of other businesses and then launched in my kitchen five years ago. And. I use a tool for my planning, for my trips, for most of my travel, not all of it, but trips like this, especially. My travel tool is for those of you that like, spreadsheets and checklists and things like that. But I have a. Free download. You're welcome to use it. It doesn't have the Japan content in it, but it's for you to use for your own. , trip planning and it won't be for everybody, but, uh, [00:37:00] when you see it, those of you who are going to love it, we'll know, we'll know right away that you're going to love it. And I'll put that link in the show notes notes as well. 

Do stay tuned for, episodes coming out with, In My Kitchen guest, Naomi, who talks a lot about Japan. And I hope I have a few more on Japan coming out in the next month as well. Thanks again, as always for listening. One thing I want to say, and I hesitated to do such a detailed podcast. About my trip, but people had been asking. The reason why I hesitated. Is, I love this tool that I use. Because it allows me to immerse myself. In the country I'm going to, before I go. And then I, and then the tool sort of gives me my buffers on either end. And then when I arrived in Japan, I felt very confident. To travel with spontaneity. Meaning. I didn't feel like I had to [00:38:00] have the days planned out. Or we could change things on the fly. And. I hope that by doing this podcast, you'll listen to it. 

You'll start marinating in your trip to Japan. But no, don't write down every little thing that I did just start getting a feel for it. And listen to my episodes with Naomi. Start marinating and what's going to be your trip to Japan. Use whatever you need to use to be organized and arrive there. With the intention. To discover it on the go. That would be that, that to me, Was Y. I enjoyed this trip so much was. The spontaneous things that happened. That wouldn't have happened if I had every minute of every day planned out. And the things that left the biggest imprint on me. Or the people and the culture and just how this respect for [00:39:00] society and for the community as a whole versus the individual is not just ingrained in every generation, it seems to be embraced and accepted and respected. I think respect is what I walked away from the Japan. Kindness. We met one or two people that were maybe weren't so weren't so, , generous with our hospitality. And, but overall people were amazing. 

And of course the food like you, you don't need to look up the hottest spots to go to, or don't, don't make a list of. What's trending on Instagram and the things that you have to do, you trust me, you will discover those on your own. There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of places and dishes to be discovered. So tag at, In My Kitchen, Paula. 

And let me know when you do go to Japan and, I can't wait to, to watch and see your culinary adventures and your journey. Thanks everyone for once again, tuning [00:40:00] in.

 

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Paula Mohammed

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