Takamatsu #8

Early in the morning, we headed to Nakano udon school Takamatsu (中野うどん学校 高松校) even though it was pouring. We had already made a reservation and did not want to change it.

Website: http://www.udonschool.jp/

This place seems to be very popular. I saw on the pictures posted that that the cast of Dae Jang Geum also visited the place.

Once there, the instructor explained to us how to make udon from flour and we immediately got to work on our dough. After mixing the dough, we had to put it into a bag and then 'dance' on it. I left this important task to J. Lol.....Meanwhile, I was given a tambourine to provide support.

As the dough had to rest, we got to bring the one that we had made there home.

Meanwhile we were given another set of dough to be made into udon noodles for lunch.

I thought that my noodles were pretty even in terms of width.

After that, they collected our udon noodles and brought it to the dining hall for us.

As you can see, it is a very big hall. There were only 2 other families there when we visited. I think their business was severely affected by COVID-19. 

There, we got to cook our udon, and then enjoy it with the side dishes that we chose.

We decided to add tempura to our course. We did have to pay extra but it was nice with the tempura. 

I am also pleasantly surprised by how good the udon tasted.

I highly recommend this as it was fun and I feel that it is very nice to be able to attend this kind of cultural lessons when you visit a place.

After that, we took the bus back to where our hotel was.

There we explored the shopping area and entered a cake shop called 菓子工房ルーヴ 番町店 (Lowe).

There, we had very nice desserts.

The chocolate cake was light and rich at the same time.

This apple cake was super pretty to look at and luckily, it tasted good too.

From this trip, I ended up purchasing souvenirs for my colleagues from the cake shop as they had some pretty fancy looking cookies. Some of them are award winning too.

You can check out their online shop from their webste too: https://lowe.co.jp/

 

Takamatsu #7

After lunch, we took the ferry to Tonosho (土庄).

Once there, we took a bus to see the narrowest natural strait in the world.

This is the Dofuchi Strait (土渕海峡).

There is a sign that shows that it is in the Guiness Book of Records. It is only 9.93m wide.

After that, we decided to talk a slow walk to Angel Road.

Saw some interesting sings along the way.

There is even a Slowpoke manhole over. Apparently, it is because it's Japanese name is Yadon, which is sounds a bit similar to Udon and Kagawa is famous for Udon.

As you get near, you will see signs like these.

As it was sill a bit early when we arrived, we decide to go up the small hill nearby.

There were many people on top, waiting for the the low tide.

On top is a bell for love.

When we were there it was super windy and hence cold! 

We waited for almost 1.5 hours and decided to leave as bus was scarce in the area and we wanted to head back to Takamatsu in time for early dinner, to avoid crowd.

As you can see, due to the strong wind and waves, Angel Road was taking longer that expected to appear. There were a few who braced the cold waters and crossed it, but we were both in long pants and didn't want to risk it in the cold waters and strong waves.

Look at how infrequent the buses are.

Anyhow, we were happy to just be able to see it, even though we didn't get to cross it.

For dinner, we went to this place called Toraya Kawaramachi (串かつ・焼鳥・釜めし 寅や 番外地), just opposite our hotel.

Website: https://torayabangaiti.owst.jp/foods

There we had the typical izakaya food, like yakitori, kushikatsu and of course, the Kagawa specialty, chicken!

Luckily, the place wasn't too crowded when we were there. There were only 2 other tables that were filled.

Food is not bad and I found this chicken a lot easier to eat than the one we had on the first day because we were provided with scissors to cut the chicken into smaller pieces.

Of course, we had to visit the lounge again after dinner! I am in love with their fish cakes! I was super happy when I saw the plate.

 

Takamatsu #6

*Continuing my Takamatsu trip post as I had time to transfer the pictures from my phone this weekend*

On our second last day, we decided that we would take a long walk to Ritsurin Garden (栗林公園) after breakfast.

The sidewalks are wide and easy to walk.

This is a famous garden in Takamatsu that is famous for matsu or pine trees.

This place seems to be popular with the locals as well.

Website: https://www.my-kagawa.jp/ritsuringarden

Look at how beautiful this view is.

There are also many beautiful koi fishes in the pond.

This garden is also famous for it's tea house as you can see from this beautiful view.

The overall landscaping of this garden is just really nice.

Also, their pine trees has such amazing characteristics.

I imagine that this garden is popular for pre-wedding pictures.

There are stalls where you an buy fish feed to feed the fishes. I cannot resist because there are so many koi fishes and they are all so pretty.

And hungry!

I stopped at several different spots to feed them.

The moment I start feeding at one spot, all the fishes start coming over.

After that, we took the bus to the port area and walked to this restaurant called Cafe Style Hazuki (カフェスタイル ハヅキ) for lunch.

This is a pretty stylish cafe near the port area. There are many flowers in the cafe and the space is spacious.

J had their curry lunch which came with a salad (1,000 JPY)

Meanwhile, I ordered the Kaiseki lunch (1,250 JPY). It came with this soup with an ebi ball, small salad, soup and grilled pork with a choice of bread or rice.

Overall the food is not bad and the portion is reasonable.

The thing with traveling during this pandemic. We try to pick restaurants that are spacious or have private spaces. We also arrive before the restaurants open so that we can be the first customers to avoid crowds.