Living in Tokyo means that I am always presented with endless options of the high-quality feast that celebrates seasonal events. Nevertheless, the more options you're being suggested, the more bewildering when it comes to picking one that should satisfy your appetite. For a secure route, I would advise settling upon luxury hotels in Tokyo that's famous among locals for having the best delicacies in town. One of my favorites is ANA InterContinental Tokyo that's strategically located in Tameike-Sanno - Roppongi Itchome area. It's been one of my cherished hotels in Tokyo since I had dined at their restaurants a few times and it always impressed me

On Valentine's Day 2019, I chose to dine at one of ANA InterContinental Tokyo restaurants. It is Japanese Restaurant UNKAI which offers luxury Kaiseki Dining

Since it was going to be Hina-Matsuri soon, they decorated the restaurant with Hina-Matsuri theme

You could dine at the public area, or in a private dining room (with additional charge). The private rooms feature traditional tatami, or you could choose a normal western dining table. All rooms have an exquisite view of the garden

The private rooms provide a serene ambiance that's enough to let you escape from the city noise

The staff recommended me a set of pairing Sake to go with my kaiseki dinner. It's my first time to partake of sake in a wine glass but the staff told me that they do it intentionally to let the consumers able to smell the shochu's fragrance better

The 3 kinds of Sake set consists of :

Uragasumi Zen from Miyagi Prefecture. It has a light fresh fruity flavor that starts of bitter with a sweet aroma

Miyamagiku from Gifu Prefecture. It has a stronger scent and spicier than the rest of the sake, more zing of an aftertaste

Kokuryu from Fukui Prefecture. This sake is probably the easiest to drink as it's so smooth. It's bitter than the rest but feels lighter after

We were presented with an Aperitif as a welcome from the chef, which is an umeshu (plum wine) before having our Amuse Bouche which is a Hokkaido's Lily Bulb ball stuffed with minced chicken, carrot, burdock, and topped with butterbur & miso sauce. The sauce reminds me like a pesto sauce but with japanese taste, and even if you're not a fan of miso's scent due to its pungent smell, the sauce is the star and you'll definitely be loving this

Next, we had the OAN or Broth. The broth is made from Rishiri Konbu and King Crab Stock with thinly sliced Shogo-in Turnip. What steals my attention is the deep fried Shirako (Fugu's Soft Roe) that is covered with egg York, bracken, broad beans, plum flavored fua, and yuzu citrus. The broth is very flavorful and rich in umami. The dish is made with the inspiration of seasonal transition from winter to spring, showing the elegance through their nicely placed toppings that's served as a feast to the eye upon opening the lid. The flavor bursts inside my mouth, complimenting the gooey shirako texture that I have declared as the best shirako I have ever had so far

Kaiseki will never be complete with a set of Sashimi. The sashimi that we had that night was the Pacific Bluefin Tuna, Red-Spotted Grouper, Squid, Hokkai Sweet Shrimp, Yellow Tail, and complimented with Shoyu from Tosa. It's composed of fish and mountain vegetables and another representation of spring image. The cut is thick but since it's high-quality fishes, it's easy to consume

Moving forward to the Appetizer! As for the appetizer, the presentation is way too beautiful with all the colors, shapes, textures, and flavors in one plate. The thoughts and efforts put by the chef for this one appetizer have exceeded my expectation as they're trying to incorporate creative touch to every single of the dishes. For the appetizer, it includes sea cucumber rolled with fish cake, marinated sea cucumber mixed with soft roe, Octopus and Soy Beans in square radish cup, Canola Vegetable topped with Konbu, Tamagoyaki with Sea Bream Roe, Black Soy Beans Jelly, Broad Bean mushed lily bulb, and boiled shrimp and dried mullet roe

For the Grilled section, UNKAI offers Grilled abalone and Sea bream rockfish topped with beans paste chengiopanax sciadophylloides, hajikami ginger, butter flavor. When it's served to the table, it strucks me thanks to its beautiful presentation and the fragrant butter smell. Usually, they use rockfish but for that day they change it to sea bream. The fish has a little smoky taste and the vegetables are tender yet crunchy. The taste of the ingredients are very rich and well complimented with the sauce without overpowering the fish

For the Stewed, Ohmi beef along with Deep fried shrimp shaped taro has become the choice of the night. It also includes shrinkage spinach, deep-fried rice cake, lotus roots with a thick sauce, and topped off with Japanese pepper. The beef itself is juicy and cooked beautifully, with even one bite you can feel that it's packed with flavors

In Kaiseki, it's normal to have Rice for the last meal. For the rice section, it's a small donburi that consists of minced tuna, sea urchin, and, salmon roe. Some leeks, nori, and wasabi are placed nicely on top of it to not just give a nice touch but also helps bringing out the flavor of the fresh sashimi. It also comes with red miso soup and pickles

For the Dessert, Kirapica Strawberries from Shizuoka Prefecture was served along with sweet red beans jelly chocolate and green tea mousse. My favorite is undoubtedly the matcha mousse!

My Kaiseki experience at UNKAI is 2.5-3 hours, and it was definitely a fantastic meal certainly. For just 16.000 yen per person, I could savor all of that incredible meals with high-quality ingredients that could easily rack up to more than 16.000 yen. With well-trained worldwide class staff and a fair price for kaiseki, it wouldn't be surprising to call this a hidden gem in Tokyo that you should definitely visit the next time you're in the town when you want to have traditional Japaneseese dining

They also offer other set menus besides the Chef's Recommendation. As of now, they're also having an offer for a Sandai Beef Feast, where you can try the 3 most exquisite Wagyu Beef (Kobe, Matsuzaka, Omi) through shabu shabu experience

For more information about this restaurant, you can check out their website here =

UNKAI RESTAURANT

Although there are hundreds of reasons why I want to go back to Indonesia, there are also another hundred reasons why I still want to live in Japan. I begin to appreciate the beauty of my own country when I am living abroad, something that I could never see when I was living there for my whole life. This whole studying abroad experience has taught me so many things more than what I was taught for years in Jakarta and I am thankful for that

I have also begun to understand myself a little bit better, and appreciate my past life. Moreover, I have made countless of memories for the past 9 months and made many new friends that I can rely on as well. But no matter how much I realize I love Indonesia when I am living in Japan, I am still not over of Japan yet and I still want to continue living in here

But the thought of leaving Jakarta for good has kinda vanished slowly but surely because I realize how I miss the town that grew me up to this point. So maybe one day, one day when I am ready to go back, I will. But for now I cant set my future too far since I have to work my hardest to the next 6 months, figuring out what I should do after my study, and learning as much as I can through this stage of life

What will come to your mind when you first think about day trip from Tokyo?

Yokohama? Kamakura? Kawaguchiko? Hakone? Disney in Chiba?

Sure you can do that, but here I am giving you another day trip alternative from Tokyo (not like you can't stay overnight at this place either!) which is NIKKO that's located in TOCHIGI prefecture

I visited Nikko twice in a year, and both in 2018 end of winter (March), and 2019 early winter (January). I heard from a colleague of mine that Nikko is really famous during autumn, especially since it's located in high altitude, so the autumn foliage will stay longer than other areas

HOW TO GET THERE AND HOW MUCH?

There are many ways to visit Nikko but the cheapest way is to buy a Nikko Pass along with Tobu Limited Express train that departs from either Asakusa or Tokyo Sky Tree Station. The pass that I recommended is NIKKO PASS ALL AREA that covers bus transportation from Tobu Nikko Station to all Nikko area. It also includes free ropeway ticket and free cruise (when it's on service), including a certain discount for some entrance fees

The pass is valid for 4 days which makes it great if you're staying in Nikko area. BUT, I purchased the pass only for a day trip, and in fact, one-way fare from Tobu Nikko Station to Yumoto Onsen Stop is around 1600-1700 yen, which makes the pass for 4190 yen is a fair trade if you're traveling to yumoto onsen - lake chuzenji area. However, if you're only traveling to World Heritage Area only, then just get the normal pass

If you purchase the pass, you're entitled to have a return limited express train ticket of Tobu Nikko Line, and the total of the pass + return ticket to Asakusa is 6470 yen! Which is pretty affordable for a day trip from Tokyo since it concludes everything. The ride is 2 hours for one way, and it's better to start early especially in the winter because it will get dark earlier

SHINKYO BRIDGE

The most popular landmark for Nikko is probably this Shinkyo Bridge. It's located within 1 bus stop away from Tobu Nikko Bus Station, and in fact you can probably walk there from the station and it might take you 15 mins only. You can in fact cross the bridge and take pictures, but when I was there, it was raining so hard so we decided to just leave after a quick shot

TOSHOGU SHRINE

Toshogu Shrine is the most popular shrine in Nikko in my opinion, and the reason is because it's decorated with real gold and also the final resting place of Tokugawa Ieyasu, in case you follow Japanese History, you'll know who he is. The decorations of wood carving and large amount of gold leaf used for this shrine was never seen elsewhere in Japan because usually Japanese shrine is all about simplicity

The Buddhist and Shintoism elements blend together in this shrine because those two religions were so intermingled 

Outside the shrine, there's also five stories pagoda. The admission price for the shrine is 1300 yen, and the museum is 1000 yen. If you purchase altogether, it's 2100 yen. For me it's really expensive just for a shrine visit, but if you're a fan of shrine and history, you might not want to miss this out

AKECHIDAIRA ROPEWAY

If you purchase NIKKO ALL AREA PASS, you're entitled to free ropeway at Akechidaira which usually will cost you 730 yen per person, so make sure to take advantage of this!

Nevertheless I think the view from the top is breathtaking and worth to be visited! 

KEGON WATERFALL 

Kegon Waterfall is the most famous waterfall in Nikko, and ranked as one of Japan's three most beautiful falls, along with Nacho Waterfall in Wakayama Prefecture, and Fukuroda Waterfall in Ibaraki Prefecture. Among those 3 waterfalls, I think Kegon Waterfall is the easiest to be accessed! It's 100 meter tall and to reach the observation area where I shot this pic, you need to pay 500 yen to use the elevator

It's a short walk from the Chuzenjiko Onsen Bus Terminal. I personally find is as really pretty and the beauty can't be captured by camera, you just have to come by yourself to see how majestic the sound, the landscape, and the snow during winter. It would reach its peak end of February or early March, and I would love to come again during those period

CHUZENJI LAKE

Just 10 mins walk from the Kegon Falls, it's the Chuzenji Lake. Probably the prettiest lake I have ever seen in Japan, and in case you forgot, this is the view of my hotel room at KAI NIKKO. When I first saw the lake, it was sparkling, literally! I am not sure why, but it's so blue, so clear, and the magnificent mountains surrounding the lake makes me wonder if I truly am in Japan and not New Zealand

In fact with Nikko All Area Pass, I was entitled for a free cruise in Lake Chuzenji but I never saw a cruise during both winter time I visited this place, so probably you have to come during summer to take advantage of the cruise. But even strolling around the lake and breathing the air around the area would be satisfying

YUMOTO ONSEN

The last stop of the bus, and the furthest, is Yumoto Onsen Stop. Where they have free public foot bath. Unfortunately it was closed for winter. You can however visit any onsen in this area by paying a small fee. The onsen's price will vary depending on the hotel or places you're going, from 500-1000 yen, not included towel rental. I chose an outdoor onset bath because I wanted my friend to experience the comfort of dipping inside onset while watching snow falling. The total was 1300 yen

Also, in case you want to see snow but in Chuzenji Area or other parts of Nikko is not yet fully covered, simply ride all the way up to Yumoto Onsen and you'll have winter wonderland because it's the top of the mountain. The logic is, the higher it is, the colder it is, the higher chance of snow during winter! I am not going to upload the pictures of the onsen because in fact it's prohibited and I didn't receive any permission, so just illegal selfie will do ? lol 

EAT YUBA 

Nikko is famous for its Yuba, which is tofu skin. In Indonesian language, we call it Kembang Tahu. But with slightly different texture and taste than the one in Indonesia. It's a local delicacy and can be put for shabu-shabu, udon or soba toppings, and also other variants such as yuba tempura! The possibilities are endless! When I first visited Nikko, I also tried Duck's Soba. Duck is also popular topping for udon or soba in Nikko, alongside Yuba. Maybe they catch the duck from the lake, but I haven't done my research up to that point lol

EAT GRILLED RIVER FISH

In mountain area as far as I experience, such as Kawaguchiko and Nikko, grilled river fish is really common. You can eat it as Set Meal (Teishoku) or you can just visit any street vendor that grills it for you. Popular fish name includes AYU, sweetfish in english. The most popular way to cook river fish is to shove skewer all the way from the top to the bottom of fish' body and sprinkle it with sea salt before grill it

Where to Stay?

My recommendation to have the best ryokan with the best view of Lake Chuzenji is KAI NIKKO. I have blogged about the ryokan before, so check out the post! The view is mostly not distracted against trees, unlike other hotels that I saw around the lake. Sure the other hotels also offer "lake view" as a part of their selling point, but when I was circling around the lake and watching the other hotels, I realize KAI NIKKO has the best view because it's higher than the trees so for picture-wise, it's way better!