Japan: Culinary Adventure (17): Breakfast & Dinner at Shiki Tei

Yuri Serving Breakfast (Nara) - Japan  2014

Beef Served on a Hot Black Stone (Nara) - Japan  2014

Two more meals while sitting on the tatami mats. Breakfast as served by Yuri, and beef served on a heated black stone as one of the dinner courses.

Nara #5: Self Portraits

Flowers, Self Portrait (Nara) - Japan  2014

Flowers, Porch, Self Portrait (Nara) - Japan  2014

I thought that I should put some self-portraits into the mix.

Nara #4: Scenic

Pagoda (Nara) - Japan  2014

Dogwood (Nara) - Japan  2014

The pagoda is located at the Buddhist temple of Kofuku-ji.

Monday Deer Blogging

Deer (Nara) - Japan  2014

Deer (Nara) - Japan  2014

Some more photos of Nara deer. Schoolgirls seemed to find them particularly interesting.

Schoolgirls, Deer (Nara) - Japan  2014

Sundae

Dan's Sundae (Nara) - Japan  2014

Dan ordered this sundae at a coffee shop in Nara. I was able to sample it: good!

Dan Photographing Sundae (Nara) - Japan  2014

Nara #3: Sightseeing

Kaze no Sumika (Nara) - Japan  2014

Photographing, Sightseeing (Nara) - Japan  2014

Kaze no Sumika has a website. Kaze is "wind", of course. Sumika is "den." So, "den of the wind?"

Somehow "abode of cold" is showing in the Chrome tab up at the top of the browser, but that doesn't sound right.

Nara #2: Noon

Bicycle Delivery (Nara) - Japan  2014

Umbrella, Noon (Nara) - Japan  2014

Wandering around Nara, window-shopping and taking photos. Warm weather! Quite a contrast from Karuizawa.

Shiki Tei: Nara Ryokan

Ryokan Exterior (Nara) - Japan  2014

Ryokan Landscaping (Nara) - Japan  2014

During our last visit to Japan in 2008 we stayed at a small family-run ryokan in Kanazawa (Sumiyoshiya) and we found the experience to be quite gratifying. This time we had reservations at Shiki Tei, a high-end ryokan in Nara with many glowing reviews.

The inn's location has its pluses and minuses: close to Nara Park and assorted UNESCO shrines but also close to a very busy highway. The facilities were top notch and the staff was very professional and accommodating. Very pricey, though, considering that highway noise was quite noticeable. (We had to leave the windows open because it was too early in the season for them to have switched to air conditioning.)

I don't want to be too critical! We had a very positive experience at Shiki Tei. Really amazing dinners.

All in all, though, we still look back on our Sumiyoshiya experience with nostalgia in a way that we probably won't with Shiki Tei.

Nara #1: Scenic

Pond (Nara) - Japan  2014

Maple Leaves (Nara) - Japan  2014

We arrived at our ryokan a little early, so we went for a walk in the vicinity prior to check-in. This part of the city is very scenic and pastoral, in spite of some busy traffic whizzing by.

Monday Deer Blogging

Deer (Nara) - Japan  2014

One of the many semi-tame deer wandering around Nara's parks and temples.

According to local folklore, deer from this area were considered sacred due to a visit from Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto, one of the four gods of Kasuga Shrine. He was said to have been invited from Kashima, Ibaraki, and appeared on Mt. Mikasa-yama riding a white deer.

-Wikipedia

From the Train

Playing Field - Japan  2014

Nara - Japan  2014

Top photo taken from the high speed shinkansen at 1/2000th second with an Olympus E-PL5. Same shutter speed used for the bottom one while on a local train between Kyoto and Nara.

Entering Nara Mike was a little taken aback at the highly urbanized infrastructure as seen from the train. He had pictured Nara as a quiet little tourist town, but no.