熱海 (Atami) not Atari

Sunday morning began with breakfast at the hotel, then check out, as Steven and I were headed to 熱海 (Atami), a town that is about an hour from Tokyo by bullet train.

Before boarding the 新幹線 (Shinkansen) or bullet train, we left our bags at the hotel we would be staying at for our last night in Shibuya.  We grabbed our backpacks for the overnight trip, and walked around Shibuya, one of the busiest areas in Tokyo, with lots of young people, restaurants, cafés, bars and shops.  There are quite a few burger places popping up in Tokyo, including this Shibuya outpost which may or may not be named after me.

But, burgers were not on our agenda for Sunday lunch.  Ramen was.  ラーメン (ramen), originally a Chinese word for noodle soup, is very popular in Japan, and there are all different kinds of broth and noodles.  Steven was kind enough to let me select a Hokkaido style miso-ramen place which seemed to look like a safe bet from the outside.

This twenty seat place called 味源 (Aji gen), ended up serving some delicious miso-ramen, shown below with an 味付け玉 (aji tsuke tamago) seasoned egg, メンマ (menma), もやし (moyashi) bean sprouts, チャシュ (chashu) pork and コン (con) corn.

The ramen was delicious, and after finishing up, Steven and I trolled around the basement of the Tokyu department store to check out all of the different stalls that had a variety of items on display.

Then, it was off to Shinagawa station to board the Shinkansen to Atami.  Here's a photo of Steven on the bullet train, who clearly was a bit tired of the paparazzi by this point in the day.

We arrived in Atami around late afternoon and took a short taxi ride to our 旅館 (ryokan), or traditional Japanese hotel with a 露天ぶろ (rotenburo) outdoor hot bath with real onsen (hot spring) water.

We were shown to our tatami mat room, and then it was time to slip on our ゆかた (yukata) robe and have a bath befoe dinner, but not before some tea service in our room.  

I didn't bring my camera to the baths, so you will just have to use your imagination.  The rotenburo was great - very hot and very relaxing.

Afterward, it was back up to the room to relax a bit before dinner.  At about 7:30, our meal began, a ten or eleven course 懐石料理 (kaiseki ryori) traditional Japanese meal with many different kinds of fish, meats and vegetables. Ours included a special 和牛 (wagyu) Japanese beef course, where we grilled our own meat on top of a salt block.

Each item and each course was in tune with the season and delicately balanced, as was the cold sake we enjoyed with the meal.  We finished with a small fruit plate and some ほうじ茶 (Houjicha), or roasted green tea.  Green tea known as 煎茶 (sencha) is green (or a bit yellow) in color because it is steamed and minimally processed.  Lightly roasted green tea like Houjicha is brown in color, smoky in taste and lighter in caffeine, which is probably one of the reasons it is served at night after a meal.

After dinner, the plan was to head back down to the rotenburo for another soak in the tub.  I called an audible and was asleep by 10:00 pm, while Steven goed it solo for a nighttime bath.