Road trip to Kawanehon, Shizuoka

Early morning in Shizuoka station, where we grabbed breakfast!

Ochazuke to warm the tummy!

We actually started our journey at Yokohama station where we used the JR seishun 18 kippu to get to Shizukoka station.

Then from Shizuoka, we took the rental for this trip to Kawanehon in Shizuoka. The trip there was definitely not easy as the mountainous roads were narrow and curvy. Not recommended for those who get car sick easily.

Here we are at Okuizumi station to get on the Ogawa Railway to see the beautiful blue lake.

This is the Ogawa Railway, which is a steam locomotive train. 

This is the Oi River.

Look at the beautiful colour.

Trains here have a Showa style interior.

I can't get enough of this beautiful view.

Such a small and cute station.

The timetable LOL

At the Okuōikojō Station (奥大井湖上駅), where we got down to enjoy the view.

The train passes by this Okuōi Rainbow Bridge (奥大井レインボーブリッジ)

There are toilets and a small cafe for those who want to grab some coffee or light snacks.

Enjoying the view, but the lake could be a lot bluer if the sun was out. When we were there, it was really cloudy, so the lake appeared green.

While we did not get a nice blue colour of the lake, 

After this, we took the train back to where we parked and drove to another parking area to hike up to this spot here, where we can see Okuōikojō Station (奥大井湖上駅) from afar.

The view was amazing.

We waited for the train to pass to get this shot here before leaving.

Here we are, queuing to cross the Yume no Tsuribashi suspension bridge (夢のつり橋). This is a 90m long bridge that extends over the Oma Dam Lake.

Website: https://yumenotsuribashi-sumatakyo.com/

Finally crossing the bridge

The olour looks pretty similar to their banner.

After crossing the bridge, we had to hike up some stairs, up the hill and take a long detour to where we came from. Hence, we were able to capture this pic here.

After returning our rental car, we took a quick dinner at Shizuoka Station, before taking the JR train back to Yokohama.

For dinner, we had sashimi don at 沼津魚がし鮨 プレミアム静岡本店.

We were very hungry by the time we got dinner and luckily, the food was good too.

Ended the meal with a sakura youkan.

By the time we got back to Yokohama station, it was late and we were tired. However, it was a nice day trip to see such a nice scenery. Though I will not go on this same trip again due to the dangerous roads that we had to take to get there.

 

SHIMOMURA, Ishikawacho

I found this Kaiseki restaurant- SHIMOMURA, in Ishikawacho which looked really good. So I made a reservation to visit on a weekend with J.

Website: https://www.shimomura-kunikazu.com/

On the day of our visit, it was pouring really heavily! Not a good time to be out as the weather was cold and wet. And it was our first time in the area so we were not familiar and trying hard to find the entrance.

Luckily the place was nice and cozy. Each group have their own private room, that is well heated!

We booked the 4,180 JPY lunch course. There is no specific menu as they serve you a course based on the ingredients that they got that day. This is a completely omakase meal.

If I remember correctly, the first dish was 3 different kinds of tofu.

Next is the artistically presented salad. Look a that beautiful moon shaped vegetable! I wonder what is it called!

Next is a hot dish, mashed potato covered in a thick white sauce and inside the potato is some meat.

This is definitely a comfort dish.

Then we had the fish dish.

I liked the fish as it was beautifully grilled.

Next was the stewed beef with raddish, served with an egg yolk.

After the protein, it is finally time to end the meal with the carb.

Look at this platter of pickles!

We had rice cooked in a claypot with fish and cabbage.

While I am full, the rice was food and went really well with all the pickles served. I couldn't resist and ate 2 bowls of rice. Whatever that we couldn't finish were molded into onigiri for us to bring home.

Lastly, we have dessert. I like how they served us not only 1 , but 4 petite desserts. The yellow jelly was super refreshing, Then you have the green tea whose texture is like tofu and the chocolate looking thing which tasted like red bean. On the most right is the annin tofu. This has got to be the best annin tofu I've ever tasted!

Overall, the food was top notch and the experience was lovely. The only not so happy part is that later in the evening, we found that they had mistakenly charged us extra for a drink that we did not order. I guess this was partly our fault for not checking the bill properly before paying. I only found out when I looked at the bill later.