A Day Out to the Dainty Town of Takayama
We’re going to Takayama. We’re going to eat Hida beef in Takayama. There’s no better way to describe the day, not the sightseeing, nor the perfect weather. Nope, the main focus is the beef.
So it was a 2-hour ride. We took the earliest possible ride, and had our onigiri breakfast on the go. It used to be rice cakes on the subway in Osaka, but on this trip, most of our rides out were on bus. And so while I was admiring the view on the journey, Minmin was in dreamland. Probably dreaming about beef.
Hello Takayama
As soon as we landed at Takayama Station, we headed towards the Old town. The morning markets were still open. I recall having damn expensive strawberries when I came here last time. The stalls look exactly the same yo. We bought a juicy apple for breakfast. For once, this woman enjoyed eating apples. I’m not sure why, even the apples of Japan taste so much better.
Takayama Old Town, Hida Beef Everything!
The edo-era houses were still preserved here. Much like a tourist attraction in Kyoto, these streets were filled with souvenir shops and restaurants. I believe some of the folks of Takayama live in these houses. They sell their traditional crafts for a living here. I want to retire like this next time.
Anyway that is not the point. The streets were filled with the smell of grilled beef. Everything was made out of Hida beef. There was Hida beef sushi, Hida beef croquette, and even dried Hida beef souvenir goods. We had 4 pieces of those Hida sushi, damn it was good. So much delight for 5 SGD a pop, seriously there is nothing much that can compare to this right now. This place is my our heaven.
Lunch at Maruaki Hida Beef Takayama
What exactly is Wagyu beef? Simply put, it refers to the 4 breeds of Japanese cattle. Wagyu is graded according to its yield, and marbling. The yield goes from A to C, and marbling standards go from 1 to 5, with A-5 being the best. And what is this Hida beef we’ve been raving about? These cattle are raised in the Gifu prefecture, and is considered to be one of the best wagyu in Japan.
We still cannot decide on a lunch location after walking several rounds around the area. Since I had a pretty damn good impression of Maruaki Hida Takayama, I decided to bring Minmin there too. When we were here the last time (with my friends), the experience was awesome. Time to share the goodness with Minmin. The main dining area was full in the restaurant was full. Lucky us, they placed us in the VIP rooms. Nobody here meant that we get to take nice pictures without people in our view-port.
We’ve come all the way here, so we must order the Hida A-5 Premium Beef. Words cannot describe how nice it is. The meat just melts in your mouth, super tender, super juicy. Sorry vegan folks, you guys are missing out the best thing in the entire universe.
A Walk Along the Miyagawa River
After a satisfying lunch, we continued to explore the area along the Miyagawa River. Saw an old school shop selling old school stuff. We bought some classic chewing gums to relive our childhood memories. This part of town was less crowded, we got our desserts and senbei, before heading back to Takayama Station for our bus ride back home.
Yoshinoya & Tebasaki Chicken Wings
I read somewhere about this Tebasaki chicken wings in Nagoya. You can see that everywhere is selling Tebasaki chicken and Tebasaki flavored snacks. We happened to spot one of these stalls just before we alighted from our bus at Nagoya Station. We instantly knew what’s going on for supper later. But first, we went to the nearby Yoshinoya for dinner. Had never tried Yoshinoya in Japan before. It was in the likes of Sukiya and Matsuya, very different from Singapore’s version.
Right after our dinner, we headed back to that shop to take-away some Tebasaki chicken wings. We were slightly full, but we didn’t want to bring it in the room because it will stink. No housekeeping in Japan yo. We also didn’t want to eat at the lobby because it would be awkward looking at the receptionists while we ate. So we stood at the carpark to eat lol. This Tebasaki thing is damn nice, has an exquisite pepperish taste.
We are back in the hotel early tonight. And we spent our night putting some face mask. For some reason, we always laugh at each other when putting on these face masks. Indeed, we look pretty stupid with the masks on. Tomorrow is castle hunting day!
