After adjusting the jet lag for a couple of days, we were off to Japan for a short trip. We decided to go to Nagoya, Takayama and Shirakawago. In Nagoya, we had the fried pork and special miso curried sauce. Ev does not like any fried pork ( or any meat other than chicken in the United States) but would eat fried pork in Taiwan and Japan. I think it is because the meat is much juicer there!
The trip between Nagoya and Takayama was via train and it was the best method of traveling for a little boy.
The best part of traveling was that my dad was not with us, he is one difficult person to do anything with in my family because it is either his way or no way (don't get me wrong, I love my father but sometimes, it is better to not do things together). In another hand, my mother is fantastic, she loves to take her time to observe and try new things. I love my mother!!
The B&B that we stayed at Shirakawago is amazing. Can you imaging the roof costed a fortune to build? Something like 700,000 US dollars, because there are very few skilled persons know how to build this kind of roof. The inn keeper has been running this B&B for 40 years already. The dinner is Hida hoba miso beef which was cooked on the top of the magnolia leaf. So tasty. I forgot to take a picture because I ate the meat before I remember to take the pictures.
Ev was looking at the fish in the sewage system outside of our B&B. There were fishes inside of the sewer system because the water was so clean.
We also stayed at Toyota's Eco Resort in Shirakawago. The resort offers all kinds of craft classes and outdoor explore activities.
Needless to say, the resort offers Japanese and French cuisine. I think it is an amazing place to rest and write books. By the way, it also has hot spring inside of the resort!
Ev had a blast at this trip because he went to the train museum in Nagoya. It is so huge with all kind of trains inside.
We really had a great time in Japan. Then back to Taipei, it rained the rest of the 2 weeks we were there, some kind of delayed monsoon season.
During this trip, I also learned how to make Taiwanese tamales from my auntie who is the chef in the family. I haven't had her tamales for more than 20 years (basically since I moved to the states and she only makes this food in June during the dragon boat holiday). I was determined to learn this family recipe from her.
I love cooking together with the family, no matter how the food come out (it is usually good because there is always a chef there!). Here is the preparation!
Three weeks went back so fast, we are back to the states now and back to the pottery studio!