FRIDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2019

JAPAN 0319: Kusatsu Onsen, Tokyo - Toraya, Savoy, Spiral, Nezu & Tsutaya T-SITE

The most recent post I published on here was about Hong Kong, prior to galavanting around the huge condensed city with friends, I spent a week in Japan with family. This March holiday was solely baked up by my birthday as the reason. It was very last minute and I just found the time and resources to go, so I went. I love trips like these.

For two nights, we went to Kusatsu - an onsen town in Gunma Prefecture. For the first time, we travelled there via bus which took around two hours from Tokyo Station. Kusatsu might sound familiar to you if you've ever watched Terrace House Opening Doors - it was where Shion and Tsubasa had their first date! Do you remember? They started their little romance while soaking their feet at the outdoor foot bath! It was pretty cool to see the actual shooting location. Since it was March and the winter chill was still sticking around, there were loads of tourists soaking their feet.

The main attraction in Kusatsu is Yubatake, the gushing spring's source in the town centre. The smell of sulphur in the air was prominent and the background to everywhere we went. Maybe it was Terrace House's doing, but there were so many youths on vacation when we went to Kusatsu. A lot of couples and so many groups of friends. I'm pretty sure it was also uni break, so that also explained why there were so many people my age there. Kusatsu was small and quaint but so beautiful, there was always a trickling or gushing stream of spring water, and being high in the mountains, the air was colder, fresher and crisper than Tokyo. There was also some left over snow from the winter passed.

The sole thing you do in Kusatsu is bathe, eat, take a stroll, buy some souvenirs, sleep and repeat. We stayed at Kusatsu Now Resort Hotel as part of a package deal that included two nights, breakfast and dinner, and transportation to and from the hotel. It was crab season when we went, so the dinner buffet had a lot of fresh crab on offer! I have to admit, eating crab is so fun and so satisfying especially when you pull out a solid chunk of crab meat out of its shell in one slick and smooth motion.

To come to think of it, we packed a lot in those seven days in Japan. We also hung around Tokyo for a bit, mostly eating, lounging and recharging with coffee or tea and sweets at a cafe. We went to 根津美術館（Nezu Musuem）and roamed around the vast gardens outdoors and admired century old artefacts and art pieces. The garden was the perfect place to let your mind and imagination wonder. Designed by renowned architect 隈研吾（Kuma Kengo), Nezu museum was tranquil and spacious with clear lines, subdued colours and man-made elements against nature.

We managed to grab a few glimpses of prematurely bloomed sakura. Unusually early this year, there were a few spots around Tokyo and Kanagawa that sprouted the iconic pink flower. I managed to stop by Toraya Cafe - An Stand in Omote-Sando. I am a very big fan of red bean and 和菓子（wagashi −　Japanese sweets), and when I found out that Toraya - an old established wagashi shop - recently opened up a small cafe that focused on あん (an) or red bean paste, I knew I had to pay them a visit. I had their steamed bun with an paste and a houjicha red bean tea, it was the perfect afternoon pick me up. I also bought a jar of Toraya's An Paste and White Bean Kinako Paste - honestly the best thing to have on toasted white bread. Also, whenever I'm in the Shibuya vicinity, I always like to stop by Spiral Building also known as Wacoal Art Centre. It's this tall multi-use building with a gallery space, cafes - including a fancy tea bar, and seasonal shop vendors and stores. There's always something different happening there whenever I stop by! I always manage to buy something when I visit too, when I visited Spiral in March, I bought a beautiful stainless steel, made in Japan, coffee bean grinder.

It's no secret that Japan and in particular Japanese people do pizza extremely well. I've heard Italian people rave on about particular pizza places in Japan that do pizza better than pizza's original hometown. One such place is Savoy 麻布十番　（Savoy Azabu-juban). A tiny little pizza bar in the upscale part of Tokyo that serves up margherita and marianna pizza, a few a la carte items and a selection of foreign wines. It is always a pleasure to watch people work their craft, and the experience eating at Savoy really lets customers indulge in witnessing the creation of their meal by master pizza-makers. I'm slowly working through a list of pizza places to visit in Japan. Savoy just falls short under Pizzeria da Massimo in Sapporo (which btw is my ultimate #1 pizza place).

And of course, no trip to Japan would be complete without a visit to a bookstore. Tsutaya's T-SITE is my favourite, each T-SITE is curated differently, so there's always something new to find or to buy. I could spend hours at a T-SITE. Actually, I could probably live there.