Monday, February 25, 2013

My Trip to Kochi, 02-24-2013, Part 2

After leaving the castle we had a snack instead of a full lunch because it was already after 2 and we knew we were having a big dinner.

Okonomiyaki with cheese on a stick!
Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake - usually served flat.
 
  
 
 



Then off to the hotel which was a city, or government run place.  Very well run.  It was right on the beach and we had an incredible view from our window.

'Welcome' in Kochiben (Kochi dialect) - 'You've arrived well'

Map of Kochi



Not a swimming beach, strong undertow.


 







Views from our window.









Yukata are provided for after the bath and for sleeping - but you can wear them to dinner if you like.




We took a walk on the beach before the sun went down because the difference in temperature between sunny spots and shady was significant.



 





 



















On the way back, and actually all over we passed this flag. Ryouma Holiday - a play on the movie 'Roman Holiday'. Sakamoto Ryouma is a very famous historical figure who wanted to 'open' Japan but was assassinated when he was 33. He'll be happy to know that his face is now on souvenier cookies and crackers.



This is his museum.
 


 
Some more historical figures. (On the side of a bus.)







A Tosa dog (the type of breed).
 










            The hotel has a beautiful 'onsen' (really just a public bath - not mineral water) with a view over the beach and ocean (if you are taller than me when sitting down in the pool of water.)  But kneeing I could see out.  There was a bridal couple having their pictures taken at the water's edge.  Dinner and breakfast came with the room (Y 10710, about $100 each), and you could 'upgrade' to a bigger (better) meal if so desired.  Luckily we didn't!!!   Here's what we had - the 'standard'.




pickles on the left, squid coated in uni
(sea urchin) on the right.



The dining room.

Nabe (hot pot)


Kumiko in her Yukata
fish with grated radish


The famous katsuo, slightly grilled on the outside, raw inside. 
Served with sliced raw garlic, onions, scallions, shiso and tomato.

Tempura - I ate the piece of white fish before I remembered
to take the picture... surprise hot pepper on the right.
Yummy Tosa sake.

clear soup















And an orange for dessert.

Sufficiently full, and sleepy, we returned to the room.  But it was cold since we hadn't turned on the heater so we went back to the onsen to warm up.  Before bed we watched a very cute British drama called 'extra' on Kumiko's computer.  It's made for teaching/learning English.  Then early to bed - around 9:30 (when I usually get home).  Not the best night's sleep for me, woke up every hour or so and I finally got up around 5:30 since the sea lions (at the little 'aquarium' or sea park) were barking and there was some mechanical noise, etc.  At around 6:40 I was rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over the mountains and ocean.  Back for a morning dip in the onsen and then onto breakfast.




 






Pickled cucumber and umeboshi.

Something from tofu.

Chiriman, very popular and evidently the babies of the
fish on the left.
Small dried fish (aya ?) - you grill to soften.

Fish cake and barley (?) from making barley miso



Salad and miso soup.






















 
And there was rice, tea, and coffee.  There had been a choice upon check in of a Japanese breakfast or western.  The western looked really good actually, but I don't usually have Japanese breakfasts so I went with that.










After buying a few omiyage (gifts to take home), we packed up and headed east to the cave.   Unbelievable as it may seem to my boys, Kumiko's sense of direction is even worse than mine!  Would have been a fairly 'dangerous' situation if not for good old 'navi' (GPS).  The cave was less than an hour away and almost deserted.  I think maybe there were a handful of people the whole time we were there.  But then we saw a bus going up that way so hopefully the cave is where they were headed.

As readers of my previous blogs will know - I LOVE caves.  But this one, for some reason left me underwhelmed. It's quite long - the path is about 1 km., many very tight squeezes - sideways (wouldn't work in the US with bigger people)  and many places where even I had to duck down quite a bit. All that is good in my book, but I don't know, maybe it was the concrete and metal  flooring and stairs in most of it,  and the lack of stalagtites and mites in the first half.  The second half was much better and the only difference I can think of was the presence of stalagmites and tites...  It was interesting but I wasn't left with the sense of awe I usually feel in caves.  But it was fun and warmer inside than out, and on the way back to the car we had a little yuzu sherbert.

We found the highway thanks to 'navi', stopped once for some noodles at a rest stop and went through loads of tunnels.  I think I must have dozed off on the bus on the way to Kochi because I really didn't remember there being so many tunnels.  The drive took about 3 hours.

It was a very nice weekend and really felt like a little vacation.

My Trip to Kochi, 2-24-2013, Part 1


I just got home from a very nice weekend in Kochi.  The island of Shikoku is made up of 4 prefectures - 'ken' (like states).  I live in Tokushima-ken, most of which is in the northeast of the island.  I went to Kagawa-ken in the north and north central part of the island, with Kathy last May.  Kochi-ken is the southern part of the island and the western part is called Ehime-ken.  I'll go to Ehime in a couple of weeks with my cooking teacher whose parents live there and have invited me to spend the night.  So one goal, to visit each prefecture on Shikoku will have been accomplished.
Take a look at the map above and locate Kochi at the northern most point of the southern coast, almost in the middle.  And notice all the mountains we drove 'through' - LOTS of tunnels!!!  You can get to Tokushima by a road that goes along the eastern coast but it's not a highway, so the fastest way is to take the expressway and kind of cut down through the middle of the island.  I went part-way down with Jake when we went rafting.  It's quite a pretty trip when you are not it a tunnel.






 
I took the bus down eary Sunday morning, since my friend Kumiko was already there having been to a grad school reunion the day/night before.  After she met me at the bus stop we walked through the Sunday market (a HUGE farmer's market) to her hotel to deposit my bag, and then back to the market which led us (and a few purchases) to the castle.






the tip of the bamboo shoot


bamboo shoots




Anpanman and some of his friends.


dried fish on a stick

dried squid


various grades of tea

all kinds of citrus



charchol hand formed into shapes


He made and is playing the little pots with holes on the left.




don't know what this is...

nanohana






a medicinal fungi - 'monkey' something

something that grows underground and is slimey like yamaimo

a type of taro (maybe)

a gigantic knob of ginger


Kochi is famous for knives and other sharp implements.













On to the castle. 
 
History (Wikipedia)
Following the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Kōchi Castle was constructed in what was then the province of Tosa. It was built by Yamanouchi Kazutoyo, who took control of the province after the Tokugawa victory. The castle was constructed as part of the move from Urado to the more defensible Otakasa (alt. Odakasa) area.[1]
Construction was begun in 1601 and was completed in 1611. Much of the original fortress burned down in 1727; it was reconstructed between 1729 and 1753 in the original style. The castle underwent major restoration from 1948 to 1959. Though no battles were fought at the castle, it is noteworthy because the castle is the original structure, and not a post-war replica. It is also the only castle in Japan to retain both its original tenshu, or keep, and its palace.[2] In fact, it is the only castle to have all the original buildings in the honmaru, or innermost ring of defense, still standing.






















the lockers on the left must be for better shoes than mine!


You can't tell but this is made from different types of cloth.





for shooting arrows, throwing rocks, etc...





The wood was joined without nails.
A model of the castle and it's residents/workers.
drying daikon (Japanese radish)





Dog and cat arguing over the fish the man dropped.

Bringing roof tiles to the castle.


Really steep stairs!


Preparing and drying katsuobushi - skipjack (?) - a type of tuna that's dried and used in almost every sauce and soup in Japan.  Can also be eaten raw or cooked.  A famous product of Kochi.


    View from the top.        


Whaling in days of old...