Kuromon Ichiba Market, Osaka

Nishiki Market is known as Kyoto Kitchen, while Kuromon Market is known as the Osaka Kitchen.  I am happy to cross both of them out of my must visit places.

At Kuromon, we had the opportunity to try out their famous scallops.  And yes, they are so delicious.  I never tasted a scallop this good, the natural sweetness of the scallop and juice is making me so happy.  If you are a scallop lover, like me, this is a must try!

Price per scallop range between 800yen to 1200yen, depends on the size.  These are fresh scallops, still in their shells.  Those without the shells are cheaper.

Besides scallop, Kuromon are famous for Tuna, king crab, beef, takoyaki, fresh fruits and many more.  We also try the octupos with quail egg here but it does not taste as good as those in Nishiki market.

So here our pics and video in Kuromon Ichiba Market, Osaka.

Grilled Scallops..

Strolling at Kuromon Ichiba Market..

Market at 10th Mile, Padawan

Pagi tadi sempat jalan-jalan kat market Batu 10.  Banyak juga benda-benda menarik di sana.

Desert rose.  Yang besar - RM40, sederhana - RM35 dan yang kecil RM25.

Apam Balik Bik Indon ni pun sedap, RM1.20 for normal and RM1.80 for special.

Peyek - RM10 sebungkus.

Ada lemang, RM5 sebatang, ada belimling RM3 sekilo, sayur-sayur kampung, ethnic accessories, dan banyak lagi.

Nishiki Market & Tenmangu Shrine, Kyoto

We took the town-bus to the Kyoto's kitchen - Nishiki Market.

So many things to see and experience here. I can say I only know 40% of the food in the market.  We discovered some new food here among the unforgettable one are the sweet black bean and of coz the famous Nishiki Octopus with quail egg.

The octopus with quail egg is so juicy and yummy.  Price range from 150yen to 300yen each.

The sweet black bean is a black bean boiled in sugar water and then dried.  The beans are huge and kind of creamy and sweet of coz.  We love it so much, the look can be so deceiving, but it tastes so good.  It cost around 1000yen for 100gram.  Quite expensive but very exquisite.

There are fresh fruits, dried fruits, preserved fruits, desserts, fried chicken, sushi, tempura, and many other things in Nishiki.

Ohhh, I bought an Aritsugu knife and dried scallops here too.

 

Just walk till the end of the row and you will get to the Nishiki Tenmangu Shrine.

Here's our video at Nishiki..

Gion District, Kyoto

After a tiring morning walking up the hills at Kiyomizudera, we had an hour rest in the hotel room, then we brave ourselves for another long evening walk in Gion District.

Gion District is quite a tricky place to find, there are so many streets in the area and we were not sure which is which.  End up we only manage to cover the red (Hanami-koji) area.  We hope to cover the green (Shirakawa) area in the future, fingers cross, and also the Maruyama Park during autumn or spring, that would be nice.

We took a bus from Kyoto Station, same bus to Kiyomizudera, bus no. 100.  We passed by Yasaka Shrine, Gion Corner, and lastly Kenninji Temple.

Warning shaky videos ahead.

 Gion District,

Kenninji temple, Gion, Kyoto

Hong Hu Jiao Zi Fang, KIX

Our last meal in Osaka was at this Chinese restaurant, Hong Hu Jiao Zi Fang/紅虎餃子房 in KIX, Osaka.

We had.. 

Ramen and fried rice.

Yamitsuki Dumplings - surprisingly these are so goood. 

450yen for 6

900yen for 12

Soup filed pork dumplings - the skins were too thick, I miss Xiao Long Pau at Din Tai Fung.

390yen for 2

780yen for 4 

Sushi Zanmai, July 2016

Our dinner earlier today..  Sushi Zanmai again.

Lemah nyer nak keje esok after a looooong weekend.

Kisah sedih on Hari Raya 2016

It was a hot hot day on Hari Raya Pertama.  Despite the hot weather we had a pretty good start. We went raya visiting to 2 houses.  Then we went shopping at tHe Spring. Came back home and had a good  rest.

Out of no where, came a thunderstorm around 5.30pm.  Heavy rain, thunders and lighthing.  Power was out for awhile, and it stopped around 6.30pm.  And you know what?!  When we got the power back, we lost 1 of our tv, we lost our modem, and we even lost our autogate motor due to the thunderstorm.  (Rosak, bukan kena curi ya)

Poor tv, now resting in the store room.

I know there are some that had a greater lost to their properties in yesterday's incident in Kuching.  Our weather is becoming dangerously unpredictable.

Hubby will be working overtime today trying to figure out the problems.

Kiyomizudera Temple, Kyoto

Kiyomizudera was not in my initial list.  My initial plan was to visit the Golden Temple, I saw lots of angmo pics there.

 But after getting some insight from my Japanese interns,  they said Kiyomizudera is a must and the Golden Temple is too tourist-y.  So I did follow their advice, and boy, I am so glad I did.

The walk up the hill is almost unbearable, I was not prepare for the walk, I almost gave up.  A check from my phone shows that the hills was equivalent to 18 stories. phew..

Me and the kids took a 30 minutes rest at the main torii gate, while hubby went to survey the area.  Then only  we continued to explore area.  We bought the entrance tickets, once entered, what I saw really took my breath away.  The view of Kyoto city the the top, you can see Kyoto Tower from up there,  the huge pillar using tree trunk, the ancient-ness of the building, the beautiful green leaves, feels like you are standing on top of the trees.  Ohh I can imagine how beautiful the view can be if you come during autumn or spring or even winter.  Wish I can come back to see all the different colors of the seasons.

Below the temple is where the Otowa Waterfall located.

Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺), is listed and one of the UNESCO World Heritage site, in Kyoto.  There are 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in total in Kyoto itself.  The temple was founded in 778, and its present buildings were constructed in 1633. There is NOT a single nail used in the entire structure. It takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. 

Kiyomizu means clear water, or pure water.  Otowa Waterfall, where the water flows into 3 separate streams.  Use the stainless steel ladle cup provided at the value to catch the water, and drink it.  Each of the streams is believed to have a different effect such as bringing success, love and longevity.

all the way up

At the main gate & entrance

The main hall

Hydrangea

Otowan waterfalls, don't expect huge waterfalls ya.

Bonsai garden n turtles pond

insta weather and me

Ultra violet sterilizer that cleans the ladle cup at Otowan waterfalls, small things like this that make me fell in love with Japan, again n again.

In 2007, Kiyomizu-dera was one of 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World.  However, it was not picked as one of the seven winning sites. - Wikipedia

Osaka Castle

The castle is quite a distance away from the train station, and the bus system in Osaka is not that efficient compare to Kyoto.  So, we had a good evening exercise just to catch a glimpse of this historical castle.

Beautiful sunset at Osaka Castle

 

 Osaka castle (大阪城, Ōsakajō), you are majestic, indeed.

The Legend of the Tarzan (2016)

Dah  tengok Tarzan? Kami dah.

Puas hati? Tak.

Sebab..

Jalan cerita agak lembab

Camera berpusing-pusing buat kepala gue pening

Si Tarzan agak kaku

Lawak tak menjadi

Watak Jane macam menyemak.

Kbai.

In My Kitchen #39 | Fusion Salad

The weather was so hot over the weekend.  I need something cold for my afternoon salad.  This was what I come up with, homemade Fusion Salad.

What's in this bowl of goodness?

lettuce

avocado

olive

pomegranate

and serunding daging

Because I was too lazy to heat up the frozen bacon in the fridge, I just make use of the serunding that I bought from Emart Bazaar Ramadan, RM13 for that small container.  The salad was so good I finished this big bowl all by myself.

Happy tummy, happy me. 

I have 1 more of this delicious Australia avocado that I bought from Ta Kiong in my fridge, will make another bowl of salad today or tomorrow.

Shopping for Aritsugu Knives in Kyoto

Their service are so good, extremely professional yet friendly at the same time.  Most of the staffs can speak English, so don't worry, ask them anything you want to know about their knives.

Mine...hihihi

They will demonstrate on how to take care of your knives.  They will also engrave the knife with your initials if you want, like I did.

Payment counter

Cash Only. Yen Only.

No credit cards. No traveler's check.

Ohhh, no tax refund too.

Japan is well known for its quality knives.  Aritsugu  (有次) is a Japanese knife specialist founded in 1560. It is one of the oldest knife makers in Japan.  The main store has been located at the Nishiki Market, Kyoto since 1981.