The Temple of Hydrangea in Toyoura !

by Kazu

Have you ever heard of "Myouhouji" Temple in Toyoura  Town, Hokkaido ? I did not know that the temple was very popular and famous with its beautiful garden filled up with hydrangea of various colors.

Many food-cars were in front of the administrative office of the temple and a sound blaster play up the place like a kind of local community festival.

The garden of the temple seemed to be well-trimmed and have a long history. A treasure house was on the higher side of the hill. Many cars were in the parking lot and two guides led the visitors for smooth flow of the people. 

 

The fertility of the Sea of Japan !

by Kazu

After a light rainfall on Shakotan the west coast of our Island Hokkaido including Shakotan Peninsula, the green of the plants seemed to get stronger and growing.   

The Sea of Japan was so calm on that day and Oshima Peninsula could be seen from the coast in front of the Oyster House "Kakigoya" in Suttsu Town. 

I felt like to dive into the ocean during that weekend but the weather forecast told that it would rain and my wife kept me from packing the diving gears before our departure even though the rainfall did not matter for diving into the ocean.

 

Shirasu donburi in Oyster House, Suttsu !

by Kazu

I had a sushi-grade fresh whitebait   rice bowl for lunch on that day. My wife had boiled whitebait rice bowl. I tried both of them. I think we could savor the taste much more when having boiled one. 

Old warehouse for the fisherman was near the oyster house. There were few flat places in Suttsu Town. Fishery-related facilities are beside the coastline.

The sushi-grade fresh whitebait rice bowl  is so seasonal cuisine and the amount of the rice bowl they can serve are so limited that I recommend to visit there before noon. The taste of the whitebait, in other words, baby sardine is so delicate. 

 

Oyster House "Kakigoya" in Suttsu again !

by Kazu

There are some hotels that have postponed the open because of the worldwide pandemic of covid-19. There is one of them on the lower side of Hotel Niseko Hirafutei. It will take a little bit more to open the facility and out it in full service.  

We visited the oyster house in Suttsu Town "Kakigiya" again on that day. Our main target was "Shirasu Donburi" that time but the starter was steamed oyster like before. The size of the oyster was much bigger than before.

We had eaten two serves of oysters by shovel before but we had only five on that day. The main dish would follow these oysters.

 

New Hotels in Niseko Hirafu Area !

by Kazu

The entrance of Hotel Skye Niseko was decorated with the bunch of sunflowers and fragrant olive flowers. The modus operandi of the flower arrangement was occidental taste, I think.

The peak of Mt. Yotei was still covered with gray clouds but the beautiful mild skyline of the hillside was clear under the sky early in the morning. 

My wife seemed to have booked us in this hotel "Ki" which means tree in Japanese. The outlook of the hotel was not so big and even now, we are not sure if it has its in-house restaurant or not.  But we are so looking forward to staying in the hotel built mainly for the tourists from overseas.

 

Please try Hotel Skye Niseko and feel the difference !

by Kazu

We did not expect such full satisfaction with the dishes of the Restaurant "Kumo" in Hotel Skye Niseko but we had to apologize to the chef in our mind.

On top of the "Buta no Kakuni" which was a small block of pork boiled with the mixture of a variety of broth and  soy sauce., the grilled minced chicken skewer with sweet and spicy sauce was also superb and filled up our heart with the chef's consideration.    

Steamed potato came with fermented butter and salty squid. It is typical Hokkaido flavoring particularly in Japanese bistro called "Izakaya" in Japanese.  T\ The welcome drink in the hotel was a glass of beer or soft drink but you can drink sparkling wine "Cava" in the morning breakfast buffet as much as you can in the restaurant.

 

The Chef of Skye Niseko !

by Kazu

The in-house restaurant "Kumo" which means cloud in Japanese impressed us so much. To be honest, we did not expected so high quality of the meals in the restaurant but I think the chef must be the top guy in the area.  

I could recognize his consideration and high degrees of skill with his sophisticated sense of quality. The cover of the chopsticks had the sign of Japanese "Ninja" and the name of the restaurant "Kumo" in Chinese character.

I said "restaurant" but precisely speaking, the menu was that of Japanese bistro.  The pork boiled and flavored with the mixture of broth and soy sauce "Buta no Kakuni" was superb and struck my head.