11/5 - 11/6 - Ryokan Meals

A ryokan is a traditional Japanese accommodation where you sleep on a tatami floor and also get your meals provided.  Taketoritei Maruyama had two huge meals in store for us.  I didn't quite realize how extensive the meals would be.

We partook in our evening meal shortly after our private onsen session.  We stepped into the special dining area.  Every group or couple had their own private dining room.  We were in room number 4 as far as I could tell from the Kanji character.  There was already some items on the table including our menu.  I was absolutely floored.  We had a 12 course meal in store for us.  I know N had mentioned that the meal was included and that it was fancy, but I was still caught off guard.  Already set on the table were two small drinks of strawberry wine perched on miniature carts.  There were also two plates of sashimi with 3 tiny pieces each.

We also had our choice of drinks.  I had seen a bottle of a local beverage out in the lobby and I was curious how it would taste.  It was called Arima Teppo Cider Water.  It didn't look alchoholic, but I was curious.  It turned out to taste exactly the same as Ramu Bottle pop.  If you've ever had Ramu Pop, it tastes like sugar water.  Both Ramu and the Cider Water were neat to try for the bottle, but it tasted syrupy and sugary.


N did the sensible thing and ordered an alcholic drink.  Many of the alcohol served was of the fruity variety.  There was a lot of choice, but N eventually settled on Peach Sake.

Our courses came one at a time.  There was the rice rolled in bean curd, the crab dumpling soup, and the beef pie.  All of them were really good, except the beef pie reminded me of a sausage roll.  I don't think this particular fusion dish worked, but everything else was good.

 

Then the our server in her exquisite kimono brought out a giant green plastic steamer shaped like a hollowed out stick of bamboo.  Inside was a steamed food dish, which I believe was fish.  However, by this time, my fatigue was truly setting in and I could barely enjoy the meal after this point.  I was so tired that I was no longer hungry.  I just wanted to sleep.  However, I managed to trek on and snap more shots of this 12-course meal.

  

We were ending the meal with smaller dishes including red miso soup, rice, and a small pickled dish.  The final dish was the raspberry mousse served in a pretty dessert bowl.  The dinner was as much for our eyes as it was for our stomachs.

 

The next morning, we also had breakfast in the same room.  This time, instead of the dishes coming out one at a time, most of it was already spread out on the table for us.  I was also feeling fully rested after sleeping through the night.  At least 6 or 7 little individual dishes were already out on the table.  However, there was no menu this morning to figure out what we were eating.  So you're guess is as good as mine.  I can safely say, though, that this is the most decadent breakfast that I have ever had.

There was also another steamer on the table today.  It was also a bamboo looking like container, but the steam hadn't started yet.  The server gestured to us that we would have to pull the string to get the steamer going.  What a neat little contraption.  I wonder what they do to get instant steam boiling.  I was tempted to play with the steamer, but thought better of it.

Overall, both meals were truly luxurious and decadent.  It's not the kind of meal that I would typically have.  N suspects that these two meals would have cost at least CAD$200 if we were to have the meals out in some fancy Japanese restaurant.  Of course, our stay included these meals and the cost packaged into the grand total.  But what a meal and what an experience.

11/5 - Taketoritei Maruyama

We were warmly greeted upon our arrival at the hotel lobby of Taketoritei Maruyama. I was expecting that we would check in and get our room keys and that would be it. However, we were asked to leave all our bags at the desk and were ushered to a sitting room. We weren't entirely sure what was going on because only 1 or 2 of the staff were comfortable speaking a little English with us. What really surprised me was the cup of tea that they brought out to us. This was no ordinary cup of tea. It was a cup of plum tea with gold leaf sprinkled in the drink. It was so luxurious that I wasn't quite sure how to react. As we sat and drank our tea, we could look out the window and see the view. If you looked really hard, you could make out buildings far off in the distance and even possibly the ocean.

We weren't finished our tea, when our personal bell hop came and greeted us. Poor guy. His English wasn't all that good and he had a heavy accent. However, he gave it an admirable attempt to convey his welcome and explain how our stay would be like at Taketoritei Maruyama. He helped us to book our private session in one of the four special private onsen baths. He also helped to book our personal dinner time.

Our bell hop took us over to a table where all women got to choose a yukata to wear as part of their stay at Taketoritei Maruyama. N picked a very feminine pink yukata with purple flowers. It also came with a purple sash used to tie the yukata together. We both got a cloth bag with traditional Japanese designs as a gift from the hotel to us as a part of our stay.

Then it was time to take us up to our room. Part of the experience of one's stay at Taketoritei Maruyama, is that the lady guests can be carted in a beautiful wooden wagon. In The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, the Moon Princess was returned to the moon in an ox-drawn wagon. So all women can feel like a princess. At least from the lobby to the elevator. So N was the lucky passenger as this beautiful wagon was pulled down the hallway to the elevator.

Our bellhop took us up to our room on the 4th floor. He opened the room for us and introduced all the different parts of the room to us. We left our shoes by the door and put on our slippers. The bell hop told us that we should write our name or draw something on our slippers so that we can identify them when we go into the public baths. It was a huge room for just the two of us to stay in, but it was simply decadent feeling. There was first the large tatami (sitting/sleeping) room. When we arrived, the room was set up with a table in the middle with a beautifully decorated plate of fresh fruit on it. One wall had a typically minimalist zen-like painting with a singular vase of flora directly below it. The window was almost floor to ceiling and was definitely wall to wall. It looked out onto a small yard that was really meant for viewing and not so much for walking in.

Next to the tatami room was another sitting room. There was a table that had a large blanket skirting the sides. I had a Japanese friend when I was young who had a similar table in his home. It was very comfortable to sit at, especially if your feet were cold. We didn't end up using this room very much except for the large closet to keep our belongings. I also found my men's yukata in the closet.

Just outside our room in the yard was a small, but segregated private bathtub. This was our own private onsen tub that we could access just outside our room. I guess that's what we paid a little extra for. It was a large green ceramic tub that could easily fit two adults. Water flowed down into the tub from a hollowed out piece of wood. It was all so decadent.

The bell hop also showed us the toilet room, washroom, and shower. The toilet was literally in a separate room and across the hall from the washroom and shower. There were two sinks and a selection of fine Japanese toiletries for the guests to use. The shower was small, but most Japanese showers are. It was set up so that you could take a bath in the tradtional Japanese style of sitting on a stool and using a wash basin. You could shower like most North Americans do if you wanted to, though.

Introduced to our room, I felt like we had landed in the lap of luxurious experience way beyond our usual circumstances.  The stay at Takitoritei Maruyama was definitely our one big splurge of the trip.