Miyagi Trip 2017 - Day 2

Another beautiful day greeted us after a good sleep, and we then went down to Symphony to the 26th floor for breakfast. The view was gorgeous, but it was a bit small considering the number of guests the hotel can receive. Fortunately we have no issue getting our table.

The international breakfast buffet offers the nice assortment of food you would expect from a 5-star hotel, and there is also the Japanese section for those who prefer that. While the choice might not be a lot, the quality is good, and I particularly like the croissant which are freshly baked, still warm and fluffy with mouth-watering buttery notes. A very contented start for us.

After check-out, we drove to Site of Aoba (Sendai) Castle. The castle was built by the famous Lord Date Masamune in early 17th century. Lord Date was one of the most powerful feudal lord in the Edo period. Now there was nothing left but a statue of Date was put in place on the hill, overlooking the city of Sendai, which seems to me that Lord Date is still checking out his subjects.

Just adjacent is the Gokoku Shrine, built to pray for peace and prosperity of Japan, and also to honor those who had given their lives for the country. We also made a wish there, following what the locals taught us in the ritual.

Before leaving the park we also visited the souvenir shop and bought some rice crackers from the friendly staff, and then also trying out the plum-flavored sorbet. It has balanced sourness and sweetness, and is quite pleasant.

Next we drove to Zuihoden, the mausoleum of Date Masamune and his heirs. One can see a lot of beautiful and intricate woodwork and a wide variety of colors in the different mausoleum.

There are also quite a number of massive cedar trees planted on the two sides of the road, which are meant to symbolize the longevity of the clan. The steps are quite wide and steep so the park kindly provided some bamboo sticks for those who need them.

We then drove to our last stop in Sendai - Mitsui Outlet Park Sendai Port. This complex has about 120 stores, selling a wide variety of goods, from luxury global brands to local designer items. Frankly I am not interested in most of the merchandise, but I still managed to buy a set of cooking tools from T-fal. My wife had bought a pair of sports shorts from Adidas, which are of great value at only 1000 yen each.

Already very hungry, we went to the sushi restaurant Hokushinzushi in the outlet, and even though it was already 1:15pm there was a queue. Fortunately we only had to wait for about 10 minutes before we got our table. I ordered the 10-pieces premium sushi set which is quite nice, albeit the chef had put in a little bit too much wasabi inside for some of them. The price is very reasonable at 1800 yen for my set. It is a decent meal inside an outlet mall.

We then drove for about 1.5 hours to Osaki Naruko, visiting Kokeshikan. Kokeshi are Japanese dolls originated in the northern part of the country, typically made from wood, and having a simple trunk and an enlarged head. The face is painted with thin lines while the body has floral designs of usually red and black. It was coated with a layer of wax to preserve the ink, and each one of them is hand-painted and usually the artist would put his/her name on the bottom.

This small museum has an entrance fee, but inside they have an artist showing how the doll is made, and you can also try to paint one yourself (with fee). There are many dolls from famous artists which are showcased here, and some of them were of very old history. However since we could not take photos inside there is nothing I can show here. I also bought a small doll to take home as souvenir.

We then moved to our ryokan for the night, Kissho Yumoto. It is a modern style ryokan having a main building and an annex, and we had booked the suite room Suzuno on the annex side. There are only three rooms in the annex, all with private bath.

The room is spacious, with a corridor leading to the living room, which in turns lead to the sitting room, which looks out to the beautiful Japanese garden. The bedroom has two large beds, very comfortable and cozy. On the side there is the toilet and shower room.

A bit strange in the design though is that the onsen bath is not adjacent to the shower room. And in fact after taking the shower one has to walk through the corridor and living room before you can enter the make-up room which leads to the onsen bath. Nevertheless the bath is good, with a large wood tub with non-stop running spring water.

Because the spring water has a sulfur content there is the signature sulfur aroma in the air though not too strong to feel bad. The spring water is a bit milky in color too because of the mineral contents. If the window could be opened to let in some cool air the whole experience would be even better.

Dinner was at the restaurant Mori no Kaze, which serves also the guests from the main building. It is of semi-buffet style. We started with an aperitif of Sangria, followed by the appetizer including Boiled Scallop & Chrysanthemum with Walnut Vinegar, Shinodamaki Vegetable & Chicken Ball Wrapped in Deep-fried Tofu, Boiled Bell Pepper Dressed with Dried Bonito, Pacific Saury Sushi, Thin-sliced Salmon Rolls, Grilled Japanese White Fish (Kamasu) with Kyoto-style Miso, and Matsukaze style Meat Loaf. The taste is quite good but not exceptional.

Then we have sashimi, which are Great Amberjack. The fish has great flavor and adding the chives and carrot mash makes the taste even more profound.

For the meat dish we have chosen the Grilled Scallop & Squid. It came a bit too fast as we were only still eating the appetizer when it was served. So by the time we were eating this the dish got a bit cool and not sizzling. The scallops and squid are fresh and tender, and there were some grilled vegetable on the side as well.

Next we were served the Tempura, and there were a choice of many, which we decided to try everything for a piece, including Shrimp, Haze (Japanese white fish), Squid, Sweet Potato, Eggplant, and Maitake Mushroom. The batter is a bit heavy and eating the tempura got a bit of oiliness to my mouth, so it was not the best tempura I have tried. But overall not too bad and I particularly like the squid. Although we can re-order, we decided to pass.

We then had the hotpot. It was called 'Naruko Chanko' which means the sumo wrestler style hotpot. We had opted for the salt soup base and there are a mix of seafood, chicken, meatball, tofu skin and vegetable inside. Upon eating we were told to add the salmon roes on top to add the flavors. There are also noodle we can add into the hotpot and the texture of that was very good, with a nice bite. This is the best of the dishes on the night in my opinion.

For the rice and pickles, as well as dessert, we can self-service from the buffet setting. Like all standard Japanese meal I decided to have some rice and pickles to wrap up, and they did not disappoint. The quality of the rice is always very good here in Japan, and the pickled vegetables are also good complement. The miso soup is sweet and nice, and that should be included to conclude a good dinner.

After dinner and taking some rest we went to the public bath on the annex. Interestingly there are four rooms on first-come-first-serve basis. Two of them has ceramic bathtub in design while the other two has stone bathtub. We went for the stone one which also is open-air. The cool breeze coming in while bathing in the hot spring water is truly relaxing, and with the bath exclusive for us it is quiet, peaceful and simply wonderful. There are free ice pops in the resting area and they were really good so I finished three flavors of them before returning to the room. Good night Naruko!