For the past week or so we’ve been hosting my cousin Susan and her husband Dave at our place. It was their first ever visit to Japan, and it was our pleasure to have them stay with us and also show them around a little.
We started by picking them up at Kansai airport, which was crowded with a lot of incoming foreign visitors. We had a little time to kill so we walked around, and it felt a little weird to be at the airport without actually taking a flight somewhere. Eventually Susan and Dave made it through customs and out the gate, and we drove them to our place. They were in pretty good shape despite the long flight, so we started out by taking them to our usual yakitori place, Yutori.
The rest of their visit we sort of suggested things they might like to do, and they sort of went along with what we had suggested. They were great guests, and hopefully they enjoyed the destinations as much as we liked introducing them.
Their first full day we walked around Okubo and Akashi, eating takoyaki and anago-yaki in a backstreet restaurant off Uonotana street. We walked around Akashi park, took a train to see the Akashi bridge, and also did a little shopping in Okubo to make sure that they had the supplies we might need. For dinner we got some Osho gyoza to snack on, and Kuniko threw together a simple cabbage salad.
The next day we all spent together in Kobe, looking around the backstreets and shopping avenues. We started at Meriken park and the Port Tower, went through the earthquake memorial area, and then on to have some steamed chicken and soup dumplings at Man-En. We enjoyed some local beers at Open Air Brewery. We then went up to see the female waterfall at Nunobiki underneath the bullet train line, and then took the ropeway up to the herb garden. The garden wasn’t really in great shape because of the season, but it was nice to walk around a see the facilities. We then did a little shopping at one of my favorite bakeries (called simply, “Bake”) and then took the subway to get to our dinner place, an oden-centric restaurant called Takadaya. We talked them into a second dinner – garlic noodles at Rai-Rai, but we all felt the noodles were a little too salty. I was a little disappointed, but we did happen to sit next to a (sort of) famous food vlogger, and later in the trip we watched her video online and heard our voices speaking in the background. Cool!
After walking so much in Kobe, we took the next day to rest our feet and cook in. Susan offered to cook some Persian dishes, and so we went to do a little shopping, ate some okonomiyaki at Tsukushi for lunch, and then went home to chill out and get ready to cook. We had dinner on the table when Kuniko got home from work – Lubia Polo (Persian green bean rice), Mast o khiar (yogurt and cucumber sauce), and finally some Shirazi salad (cucumber and tomato salad). It was a feast! We really enjoyed working with Susan in the kitchen and seeing the meal come together.
Having rested our legs we got up early to head to check out Kyoto. Kuniko drove us, and despite a pretty big traffic jam we got there fairly early. We started with Kinkakuji (the Golden Pavilion), and then walked to nearby Ryoanji to see their grounds and zen rock garden. Then it was back to the car for a drive to a riverside restaurant near Jingo-ji for yudofu and soba noodles, served hot over a fire with a paper bowl holding the contents – a little unusual!
After a great meal by the river we went ahead and walked down the road to see the Jingo temple. We had to climb a lot of steps to get there, but Susan and Dave hung in there and managed to get to the top. We bought little plates and hurled them off the side of the mountain, symbolizing some kind of evil we were banishing from our lives.
Afterwards we took them back into town to check into their hotel. From there we walked to the station area to look around for an izakaya to visit for dinner. It was pretty hard to find one, but eventually did. We ordered a variety of dishes, including raw horsemeat, but everyone tried everything and it was fun to have some variety. From there we walked back to Susan and Dave’s hotel, stopping at a convenience store along the way so they could stock up on snacks. Then we left them there and drove on home.
We had a day to ourselves while Susan and Dave were in Kyoto – we did a little laundry, a little cleaning, and mostly just chilling on the sofa playing video games. A little downtime is good now and then.
The next day I met Susan and Dave in Osaka – Kuniko was working so we figured we would look around and then meet her for dinner. We started with Namba and the Dotonbori area, Kuromon market, and Doguyasuji (the kitchen tools street). We walked from there through the dodgy Den-Den town to get to Shinseikai. We walked around the tower and found a kushi-katsu place to eat fried stuff on sticks. After lunch we made our way back to Umeda, and went to the newly opened Grand Green park and had a few drinks at the underground Osaka Time Out. It had just opened a few days before, so the service and staff were a little rusty but it had good vibes to chill out and drink.
Finally we took a long walk (longer due to construction in the area) to go to the Nomoka area near Whity, underground. We found a pretty cool Japanese izakaya that had a 500 yen beer and sashimi deal (yes!) and when Kuniko arrived we dug into various dishes there. Then we stopped at a Taiwanese restaurant for some flying fish egg dry noodles, and also some pickled greens with octopus that was really refreshing. We were eating a lot this trip. Then it was back to the train for a long ride home.
The next morning we did a little shopping for snacks and specialized ingredients for later, and then went over to the Yamaji’s place for lunch. Initially we started outside, but it was unseasonably cold and so we moved the party inside later on. We were enjoying some homemade tempura, and plenty of other little surprises that Chieko had put together. They really cook Japanese food well – it was so good. Towards the end she served a phenomenal crab miso soup that brought the house down. There were also some spring-themed rice balls – one green and one cherry blossom colored. Everything was great, and they really put in a lot of effort to make Susan and Dave feel welcome. Even though it was a lunch we didn’t get back until six or seven pm. As usual parties at the Yamaji’s can really take up a lot longer than you would think.
The next day Susan, Dave and I went out to see the coastline, and then did a little shopping at the Aeon supermarket. We had a chilled out day at home, talking, drinking and eventually cooking lamb skewers and sausages on the grill, with Kuniko making a Tuscan salad that is one of our favorites. We talked and drank for a long time – going through quite a few bottles of wine in the process. It was a chance to catch up and swap stories, and it was the kind of thing that is rare for me to do with any of my family members.
The next day Kuniko was working, so I took Susan and Dave to Hiroshima by bullet train. We got up early and caught the bullet train from Nishi Akashi, changing to a faster train in Okayama, and arriving in Hiroshima around 9 am. It was an easy train ride from there to Miyajima-guchi, and we visited an eel rice restaurant (Anago-don Ueno). They had just opened the doors and we got in early on the waiting list. It was a huge bowl of eel and rice – and it was so delicious. The restaurant had been recommended by Mr. Yamaji, and I’m glad we went. We were stuffed and it was still before 10 am!
From there we took a ferry across to Miyajima island. The weather was excellent, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and we arrived just before the majority of tourists had arrived. We walked around the coast, taking in the views of the torii gate and the different structures on the island. The deer looked a little worse for wear, but I think the cherry blossoms made up for it.
Back from the island we took a local train line to the Peace Park and walked the grounds, and then walked across town to the Okonomi-mura, three floors of okonomiyaki restaurants (more like food stalls, actually) serving in the Hiroshima style. We found one that was open (there were plenty of choices) and settled in for a couple different selections. It was great, and it was fun to be tucked into the corner wolfing down great food. Eventually we wrapped up and headed back to Hiroshima station by cab. We got in the foreigner line to buy tickets back – the foreigner line was much shorter than the regular line – and so it was no problem traveling back and getting home well before Kuniko made it back from work.
Our last day with Susan and Dave we drove them into Kobe and parked in Kitano, and then walked around the old foreigner residences. We were killing time until our lunch reservation was ready, so we went to Nishimura Coffee to have some unusual coffee selections. Dave had a cafe royal (with sugar cubes burnt and melted into the coffee), Kuniko had a coffee float, Susan had a brandy coffee, and I had hot peanut milk. The atmosphere was fun, the staff were very professional, and it was a fun stop. Then we walked across the street to have Kobe beef at Wakkoku – our go-to Kobe beer restaurant. They didn’t disappoint – the meal was really good. The cook was chatting with us and I think it was the perfect meal to wrap up the trip with.
From there we drove Susan and Dave to the airport (a bit early) but they had plenty of time before their flight back to Hawaii.
It was so nice to have Dave and Susan here – they were excellent guests and despite four people staying in our little house it was super comfortable. They were flexible and open-minded, which is essential when traveling to a new country and putting up with weird toilets, constantly taking off and putting on shoes, and culture and language issues. After they arrived we realized that the real goal of the trip for them was spending time together with us, and that was certainly the highlight of the visit for us as well. There were a lot of similarities between us as couples, and so it was really easy to get along and have fun together. We are hoping we’ll see them again in Japan in the future. It isn’t all that far away from Maui.
