Japan Day 5 - 7 Feb 2016

It was a late wake up morning and MacDonald's was breakfast. I had the Mega McMuffin with nuggets and tea.  Definitely a very FILLING breakfast!!

After the late breakfast, it was back to the apartment to pick up my presents for my colleague, Tomo.  Then it was off to meet Tomo.  Today, Tomo brought me to Rihga Royal Hotel near Waseda University for lunch.  And it was my very anticipated Fugu set meal!  The meal came with complimentary champagne as well!  Nice touch!

Menu that was hand signed by the Chef!!

The first course was a mixture of winter and spring seasonal food.  Second course was fugu sashimi with Ponzu sauce and fugu skin broiled with sesame sauce.  Fugu is a very poisonous fish and will kill the consumer almost instantly.  However, when prepared carefully, it's a delicacy that works wonders to your palate.  The texture was smooth and slightly crunchy with very mild hint of sweetness.  The skin was very crunchy and surprisingly tasty, tastier than the meat itself!

The third course was fugu tempura.  I was surprised the meat was firm yet flaky after cooked.  It was just divine!  Fourth course was a hotpot of fugu, but the meat tasted almost like normal boiled fish meat.  The fifth course was rice in fugu soup, with bits of fugu skin.  An egg was also thrown in for extra sweetness.  It was so light and flavorful!

Champagne

Appetiser

FUGU Sashimi

FUGI skin

FUGU Tempura

FUGU broth

Pickles

FUGU Porridge

The meal ended with a mango mousse cake and clear Japanese green tea.  The food was great, but Tomo's company made this even better!  No longer colleagues now, we chatted like old friends.  It was great fun before returning back to Shinjuku station where we bade each other farewell.

Me and Tomo

A quick stop at the apartment before heading out for YuYi sento at Nishi Shinjukugochrome station.  It was very crowded with 2 hot pools and one cold pool, plus an 'outdoor' pool that felt almost indoor.  And a sauna room that required additional payment.  No towels provided for the JPY 460 entry, and you had to pay to use the hair dryer!  

Yuyi Sento, not very nice though

Quite a turn off experience that I stayed for a quick 30 minutes before heading to my favorite Shimizuyu onsen where they had real spring water that was available in 3 different hot pool ( black, seawater brown and grey) plus a cold pool and hot sauna.  All for JPY 460 and the hair dryer was free!  And your skin really felt smooth after soaking for just 10 minutes!!

After onsen, it was dinner at the nearby shopping arcade (just 5 minutes walk from Shimizuyu onsen and a stone trhow away from the train station) where beef was the main course.

Caesar Salad with hotspring egg

Fruits to finish off