Epicurean

Follower of good food

While waiting for our ride at the airport, I turned up my shirt collar to shield me from the cool air. Returning from the midst of volatile weather in Japan, Portland seemed very calm and already showing the face of Autumn.
This is a PDX tradition photo

Since then I haven’t been cooking much…the first day back I fixed the instant ramen noodle below. I like the texture of the noodle and love salt ramen. I had to ask my son to order it on-line (10 packages for 1800 yen). The proceeds goes to the Maruyama Zoo of Sapporo, Japan. Neat, right?

The following day, I cooked the pricey ‘Yumepirika’(ゆめぴりか) rice. I could buy more but it weighed a ton. I recommend it to people who love white rice.Topped with ready made Strawberry Curry…Tochigi prefecture is famous for ‘Tochiotome’(とちおとめ) brand strawberry…I love strawberry but perhaps not in curry…too sweet for my liking but interesting.

We overindulged in sweets and baked goods…velvety smooth vanilla pudding for instance.

Everybody loves strawberry shortcake!?

This idea is cute though… I don’t really care for the combination – croissant taiyaki with sweet azuki bean filling (the custard filling is better I think).

We had a three course lunch at iconic NIkko Kanaya Hotel (日光金谷ホテル)  elegantly presented, mango ice cream for dessert…amazing!

Typhoon #18 brought so much rain and it caused flooding in many places. This is Nikko Station before the major rain fell…we feel sorry for those lost lives…We rode a bus north of Nikko to Kinugawa Hot Spring Resort (鬼怒川温泉) as the trains were not running because of the typhoon.Kinugawa means Angry Ogre River..it’s just like it’s name. The usually clear Kinu River turned into a muddy stream because of the excessive rain. Our hotel was just downstream and we were safe but this neighboring hotel’s structure was partially destroyed, fortunately no one got hurt.

 

My husband took this video of Kegon Waterfall/華厳の滝 in Nikko. The winds were so strong that it blew the water clear away from the usual course.

Soft serve ice cream cost nearly $5 each at Payard in Ikebukuro, before heading to the airport.

The highlight of our trip…Our grandchildren are all beautiful (biased? just a little) including the latest one. My husband and I instantly fell in love with him.

My husband in particular melted under his spell.

We had a hard time saying goodbye.