Koriyama Exchange Bus Tour [25/06]

This is the highly anticipated event of the month - The Bus Tour to Nikka Distillery and Yamadera Temple; organised by the Koriyama International Exchange Association (KIEA).

We rendezvous at Koriyama City Hall at 8.30am and adjourn to our first stop, the Nikka Distillery. There were some delays initially and compounded by a traffic jam at the road leading to the Distillery. So we got there somewhat an hour late at 11.30am. But nevertheless along the way, I had a nice travelling partner - Sibuya san, where we share about our travels around the world.

The bus tour begins with the introduction of our bus driver, Kyoko-san our English guide and Takeshi-san our Japanese guide. In the photo below we have Kyoko-san giving us a warm welcome to the journey ahead.




Once we got to Nikka Distillery, we were greeted by a sore sight of mountain mist and drizzle. But we manage to huddle together for a long photo taking moment. This photo taking session is unique in the sense that everyone contributed their cameras and we probably stand around 5 minutes in the slight drizzle smiling at all the flashes.




We were given umbrellas at the start of the tour and at our first stop is an introduction to the buildings in the area. There is a building shaped like a Whisky bottle, as my Tibetan buddy mention. The guide is in Japanese, so we just follow and see what we are supposed to see and touched what we are supposed to touch. She later introduces us to a fragrant husk that is used in the production of the whiskey. We all have a 'feel' on how it is like.




Thereafter we were led into one of the buildings and given a stroll through their offices and research labs. There was a large plasma TV at one of the rooms which showcase the production process. Thankfully at this time, Kyoko-san came to the rescue and translated some of the Whisky manufacturing process. Something about emzymes and so on. I have been to a Whisky distillery before and that was in Ireland (Jameson Distillery in Northern Ireland), so I roughly know what's going on behind the manufacturing process.




And we went off to the next building which is the actual distillation process for the whisky manufacturing. These actually look like large conical flasks in chemistry labs which are especially used for large scale production of whisky. The Nikka Whisky is one of the first whisky production plant in Japan.




We are finally brought to another building where we were shown where the whisky barrels are stored. The entire warehouse has a very strong alcohol fragrant to it. It is quite dark in the building so no photos are uploaded at this juncture. And now is the main highlight of this Distillery trip - sampling the Nikka Whisky.

We proceeded on to the main building where visitors can get a few omiyage (local souvenirs) from here.




And of course, the whisky sampling cafe. I remarked to a few friends that normally after a few glasses of whisky, the visitors will be more inclined to get more gifts in their tipsy state.

The amazing thing about the Nikka Distillery is that they allow visitors free flow of whisky samples. Amazing!!! Those I have been to only allow a pint or a glass. I guess visitors are not that drawn towards continuous drinking here in Japan as compared to Europe.




I got a glass and here we have giving a shot at it.




And thereafter I went on to the shop to get a few stuff. I bought a few gifts for both my Singapore colleagues and Koriyama co-workers. Finally the best part of the entire bus tour - Lunch!!

Joemon, my travel buddy and me were the last two to get to the restaurant. We are having BBQ lunch for the day. Nevertheless, once I have settled down at the table, they have just started on it. Here is a snapshot of what BBQ seafood is like. It is just absolutely fabulous!

Oishii! Umai! Maiu!

My table mates are also fascinating and we spent quite a lot of time talking until we almost couldn't finish the stuff. It is time for us to leave and we have to clear up fast.




Now we are on to our next stop - Yamadera Temple. We got there at 2.30pm, 40 minutes later than the designated timing. And have our group photo there again below.




Up we go the flight of stairs to the first temple structure. I love visiting temples, and is especially drawn by the ambience of peace exulted by the area.




We have visitors making incense offerings and praying for safety and good fortune.




At the first temple hall, we have Maitreya Buddha (the future Buddha to be) where people pray for happiness and prosperity. They will round it off by rubbing the Buddha and spreading the happiness to oneself (symbolically). This is the Maitreya of China, Taiwan, Japan and other Asian countries. The Maitreya of Tibetan Buddhism is a tall and good looking Buddha as mentioned in the scriptures. And the Maitreya of Thervada Buddhism is similar to Shakaymuni Buddha.




After passing through the first temple, we began the uphill climb to the top of the mountain. Most large temples (monastery) in Japan are located in the mountains. So the monks are especially fit and these give temples good defensive position. The famous legend of this temple is that there is an ancient flame burning in the main hall which is said to be litted for 800 years.




Along the way up the mountain, we came upon tombs and offerings. These tomb stones are actually engraved up on the mountain walls. The name and time of the people are named. If you noticed non-Japanese characters on these tombstones, they are actually mantras (Sanskirt words).




And finally we have reached the mountain top temple hall. In the main hall there is a large golden Buddha. And to the hall next to the main one, there is a mirror in the middle of the altar. I'm quite drawn to that hall. Why is a mirror placed there? A mirror has a special significance in Buddhism. According to a stanza written by a great master, the mind is like the mirror, where we have to continually clean to remove it of all dirt. Another stanza is follow by it, written by another great master which is even more fascinating (which I won't mention here). Or one of the five wisdoms of the Buddhas is the mirror-like wisdom. hmm... Maybe if there is time in the future, I will try to find out more about it.




We went down from the mountain top hall and down to the sightseeing pavilion. Along the way I have the opportunity to catch a quick shot with Kyoko-san, my Japanese sensei in Koriyama, Joemon my colleague buddy and Denise from Peru. We are all classmates actually.




Here is the picturesque, paranomic view from the pavilion top. It is truly beautiful with undulating mountain ranges, cloud covered tops and the grassland valley.




Here is a shot of where we came up from the bottom. Up the flight of stairs and through several temple structures.

And finally we got back to our bus and begin our journey back to Koriyama City Hall. It has been a tiring day but one that will be remembered. This is actually my last activity with the Koriyama International Exchange Association. I will be going to China for a project for the next 3 - 4 months. The time spent in Koriyama has been memorable, especially the Japanese classes and the regular outings. I wish all my friends and colleagues in Koriyama the very best.

Koriyama 6 [10/06]

Morning / Afternoon

I went down to the Koriyama City Sogo Fukushi Center today with a fellow colleague, Lee san, to learn Japanese cooking (日本料理)!!!

At the class, I recognised many familar faces from the regular activities organised by the Koriyama International Exchange Association (KIEA). We are split into 5 groups with around 4 to 5 people per group. The international students are divided equally among the different groups.




We got the instructions menu for today. We are supposed to prepare 3 dishes: Garnished Sushi(ちらし寿し), Hard-shell Clam Clear Soup(はまぐりの吸いもの) and White Salad(白あえ). The second dish is one of my favorites, having tried it everytime when I went to Tokyo's Tsujiki Fish Market. So we started with the instructor briefing us on the preparation of the broth for the dishes. She prepared a large pot for all of us to share.




Thereafter we are off to our different groups in preparing the meals. I was actually getting ready to just observe how the rest go into preparing the meals. But my partner, Rika-san, wouldn't want me to lose the opportunity of having hands-on, so the first task delegated to me is to prepare the eggs. Ok. This seems quite an alright task. Cracking the eggs and throwing it into a pot. The first 3 is fine but the 4th kind of went off target. But the situation was salvaged and off we go into preparing omelette.

In the photo below, Rika-san is the one on the far right in green. The lady next to me is Yuri-san, she is actually quite a good cook from the way she prepare the ingredients. Later towards the end of the course, I heard that Yuri-san is actually a singer who has appeared on NHK a few times. So the first one egg was prepared by Rika-san, the second one by me and the third is prepared by Yuri-san. It really takes quite a bit of skill in preparing omelette.




In the photo below we have lee-san and his partner, Akiko-san.




Well, there is actually quite a lot of things to prepare. There are the vegetables, the prawns, the clams and the garnishings. We pretty much seems to be running around the table getting the utensils, favourings and ingredients in place.

I find some of the favourings to be quite a huge amount. One of it is to have 95g of sugar. So we used a weighing machine and took out 95g of sugar. It is like one coffee cup full of sugar! And it is thrown into the ingredients used to prepare the garnished sushi.




We go on through our tasks and time really flies. When the rice is served, I realised it is already 12noon. We started at 10am. A snapshot is taken at this moment when the rice and the vegetables are laid out on the table. I'm doing some washing concurrently.




We are the first group to finish with our meal arrangement while the other groups are about halfway through their preparation. The other 4 groups are shown in the photo below:




My partner, Rika-san and I trying to sort out some of the utensils.




And here is the fruits of our labour. A complete spread for all 5 of us. We started having our meals from 1pm. Itadakimasu!!




There is actually a way in which the Japanese place their plates before their meals. The soup is to the right, the rice on the left with salad and drinks at the top. No wonder Yoshinoya have their meals serve in this arrangement. Everytime I go for a set meal in Yoshinoya, I will always move the soup out of the way to the left and have the rice placed in the middle. Think the next time I will just keep the arrangement as it is.

The Garnished sushi actually follows the tradition of the Kanto plains. That means these kind of sushi is normally taken by Kyoto and Osaka people. The sushi we know overseas comes in the smaller form of squashed rice with sea weeds, topped with seafood. Well the latter actually originated from Tokyo. So these are two different regions of sushi.

At the end of the day, I really appreciated the long hours it take to prepare a good meal. We spent two and a half hours in all in just preparing lunch! Two hours non stop standing, and lots of running around the kitchen. It is quite high time physical training. Over all, it is fun in learning how to prepare Japanese culinary as a group.

Evening

My colleague buddies invited a few of us over to their place for party at 6pm. They prepared their special Indian crusine for us. Heard they started preparing since 3pm. Oh man, it really reminded me of the morning cooking. To prepare a really good meal will takes time.

We were invited to sample the Indian crusine using the traditional method of eating: by hands. Well, there were some difficulty initially. Cos according to human physical design, either we place the rice on our hands and we eat it up from there (which is similar to just eating straight from the plate) OR we turn our head over and drop the rice down. This is the result of being too used to chopsticks, spoons and forks. Anyway we were shown the right technique of eating it, it involves squeezing the rice into rice balls.




And here are the guests: We have Lee-san to the left, Mark in the middle and me to the right. After meal, we have an old friends chat.




Here are our hosts: Joemon and Binu.



They are really great cooks. The curry reminded me of back home Indian curry.