World Foodie Guide

I decided on my last day in Japan to retire from food blogging. I’ve been blogging intensively for over two years and have reached the point where I’m mentally very tired and would like to do something different. I have loved writing about food, sharing my eating experiences and most of all learning from readers, whether it’s a suggestion for preparing a dish or a restaurant recommendation. I’ve also immensely enjoyed meeting, both online and face to face, like-minded people who are passionate about food. If it weren’t for my fantastic readers, I would have stopped a long time ago.

Writing the final lines of the Tokyo post was difficult, and I felt a mixture of emotions – sadness that it was my last proper post and also relief that it was my last proper post. My blog has dominated my life for its entire existence and I suppose I always assumed that I would just continue with it. People have suggested writing fewer posts or only writing when I travel, but I’m an all or nothing person. I either have to blog as much as I have done or stop completely. There’s no middle road for me. However, I’ll keep World Foodie Guide live for as long as possible and try to answer as many comments as I can.

As for me, I’ll continue to learn about photography, travel (25 Food & Travel Destinations) and perhaps even write a historical novel. The husband will be able to eat food that doesn’t need to be photographed first and the cats will have more of my attention. And of course I’ll still be enjoying my food!

Thank you to each and every one of you for reading…

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Tags: cookery, cooking, dining out, food, food & travel, recipes, restaurant review, restaurants, travel, traveleating

We spent six days in Tokyo between various trips to Kyoto (see Kyoto Tales), Numazu and visiting the Jigokudani snow monkeys in the Japan Alps (see Snow Monkeys & Soba Noodles). As this was my fifth time in Tokyo, I chose to concentrate on my favourite places, as well as visit a few areas new to me…

Trip 1: Tsukiji – breakfast – Hamarikyu Garden – Sumida River trip – Asakusa – lunch – Kappabashi-dori

This was my first visit to Tsukiji fish market, although I came very close to going on my last trip. Before the jetlag wore off, I decided on an early morning outing to this gigantic wholesale market, which has been in its current location since the 1923 earthquake. Even with jetlag, I knew it would be impossible for us to arrive for 5am, but 6.05 was a respectable enough start! Countless varieties of seafood were on sale at the hundreds and hundreds of stalls and the sheer volume was overwhelming. We also had to be alert at all times to avoid the numerous mini forklift vehicles scooting up and down the aisles at top speed. The people at Tsukiji can be brusque, but they are there to earn a living, rather than accommodate tourists. A friendly ‘ohaiyo gozaimasu‘ works wonders and one vendor even drew me a little map to direct us to the sushi bars. These are located near the other shops and stalls that sell all manner of food produce from pickles to cutlery (and divine matcha ice cream!) and which are just as interesting as the main fish market itself.

My sushi breakfast was a welcome respite from the manic hustle and bustle of the fish market. The husband went for a wander while I chose a place with no queue. I wasn’t prepared to queue for my food nor make him wait two hours for me. My opinion is that the fish is equally fresh no matter where you eat it at Tsukiji, so why follow the hordes of tourists? I sat with three Japanese people at the small counter facing my extremely friendly and entertaining sushi chef, who was most proud of his creations, and loved being photographed too. My breakfast cost ï¿¥2600 (£18) and was worth every yen. I left my sushi bar feeling very pleased with myself, especially as there were ridiculously long queues outside certain establishments by 7.45am.

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Tags: dining out, food, food & travel, Japan, Japanese, Japanese food, restaurant review, restaurants, Tokyo, travel, travel tips, traveleating

After travelling to see the Jigokudani snow monkeys (see Snow Monkeys and Soba Noodles) in the Japan Alps, we returned to Yokohama to repack our bags before leaving early the next morning for Kyoto, Japan’s old imperial capital.

Planning the three days was harder than I thought. I had to drop many of the items on my wishlist, including day trips to nearby Osaka and Nara. It would also have been wonderful to spend the night at the Buddhist temple on Koyasan (a World Heritage site) and sample shojin-ryori (Buddhist vegetarian cuisine). Most of all, I wanted to return to Kobe, where I had one of the most memorable meals of my entire life, a simple but spectacular dish of Kobe beef. In the end though, rather than rushing about trying to fit in multiple locations, I decided to plan a relaxing three day stay in Kyoto. It’s easy to forget how exhausting travelling can be.

Kyoto Day 1:

Arashiyama is a renowned area of natural beauty to the west of Kyoto and popular in the autumn for viewing the changing leaf colours. Best of all, it’s just a 15 minute train journey from Kyoto station. As the ryokan check-in time wasn’t until 2pm, I thought it would be a good idea to arrive at Kyoto station, leave our bags in coin lockers and head out to see the famous symbol of Arashiyama, Togetsu-kyo, the wooden (and concrete) ‘Moon Crossing Bridge’, and wander through the bamboo forest.

I had planned a shojin-ryori lunch at Tenryu-ji Temple (ï¿¥3000, ï¿¥5000 & ï¿¥7000 set lunch menus, plus a ï¿¥500 admission fee to the temple grounds), however they were fully booked when my friend called to make a booking a month in advance. I then briefly considered Nishiki and their kaiseki bento lunch box as well as Sagano for their yudofu (Kitcho, with its recently awarded three Michelin stars, offered unaffordable kaiseki at ï¿¥35-40000 /£232 – £265 (prices from a few years ago)). In the end, I decided to just turn up and see…

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Tags: dining out, food, food & travel, Japan, Japanese, Japanese food, Kyoto, restaurants, travel, traveleating, vegetarian

This short trip from Tokyo to Yamanouchi town in Nagano prefecture, the Japan Alps was the first section of the two week trip to Japan that I planned. The husband had a yearning to see the Jigokudani snow monkeys (wild Japanese macaques) that keep warm in the freezing winter months by bathing in their own outdoor onsen or natural hot spring, and this is apparently the only place in the world where they do this. I initially thought that humans and monkeys bathed together, but more research revealed that this is not the case, although it has been known that a monkey or two will occasionally join humans in a nearby outdoor onsen for humans…

Jigokudani, known as Hell Valley because of its sulphurous and volcanic activity, is not the easiest destination to reach, and our one night at the 400 year old Kokuya ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) in Shibu Onsen was expensive. The trip was, however, worth every minute and every Yen and I would highly recommend it. If you ski or snowboard, then Shiga Kogen ski resort is nearby and Jigokudani could be added on as a side destination.

Shibu Onsen is a traditional and famous onsen spa town where people in their yukata (cotton robes) stroll down the old, narrow cobbled streets after bathing at the various public bath houses to relax at a izakaya (pub) or to return to their ryokan. Dotted around the area are tiny temples and it’s most atmospheric in the evening. Also not to be missed are the onsen tamago or boiled eggs, which taste different to normal boiled eggs because of the minerals present in the onsen water.

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Tags: cookery, cooking, food, food & travel, Japan, Japanese, Japanese food, Jigokudani, kaiseki, Kokuya ryokan, snow monkeys, soba noodles, travel, traveleating, vegetarian

One of my current goals is to improve my food photography skills. I started blogging over two years ago with just a Sony Ericsson mobile phone camera, progressed to the Sony Cybershot W300 and now use the Leica D-Lux 4. Although many food bloggers take superb photos with their digital SLRs, I’ve so far resisted buying one because I prefer to stay mobile and discreet, particularly when travelling or reviewing restaurants. So as a point & shooter, I’ve been referring over the last year or so to these useful posts from various food bloggers who have kindly shared their ideas online:

• Compact Camera Food Photography – from the excellent blog Wrightfood, written by Seattle-based Englishman Matt. He has also written two other posts that I like to re-read – Food Photography Set-up and Food Photography Post Production

• White On Rice Couple have been publishing a superb series of informative posts, so far on exposure, shutter speed and aperture, with many others to look forward to!

• Food Bloggers Unite has fantastic posts on specific subjects relating to both shooting food as well as post-production, which I have found very useful (and need to keep re-reading)

• Kitchen Wench has written a whole series of photography posts on exposure, focus & depth of field, white balance, on-camera flash, choosing gear & set-up, and more on processing and editing software

• An inspiring post from VeganYumYum on Food Photography for Bloggers that I really enjoy reading again and again

• Smitten Kitchen wrote this comprehensive post, Our Approach to Food Photos, two years ago. I like to refer back to it once in a while because it’s not written in an overly technical way

• Another non-techy Photography post from Lucullian Delights that I like reading because she focuses on ‘feelings’ when taking photos, rather than technical stuff

• Food photographer Lara Ferroni of  Still Life With wrote this useful post, Photographing Food with simple tips that I’ve tried to follow

• Simply Recipes shared her tips on Photography three years ago, but they are just as relevant today

• This post on Food Photography Techniques and Tips on Digital Photography School was one of the first I came across while doing my research, along with Food Photography – An Introduction

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Tags: food, food bloggers, food photography, photography, tips