Kamiooka: Another Parfait Day

Whew! A week has zipped by since the date of this post but I'm going to pretend it's still Saturday, October 15, and chronicle some of the highlights of the past several days before I board the Shinkansen for Kanazawa with Fearless and Matsuzaki-san the day after tomorrow.

Yesterday -- the "pretend" yesterday -- Artistic was introduced to the wonders of Takano Fruit Parlor in Kamiooka. She opted for the chocolate parfait, the only non-fruit option, which was not what I expected of the only serious vegetarian in my current social circle. Life is full of surprises.

The rest of us health nuts tried the three seasonal fruit versions:

Chestnut for Fearless and Hiroko

Grape (three varieties) for Hisayo and Yuuko

Pear garnished with white chocolate for the author

Our 10:00 am desserts were followed by a lovely and delicious luncheon at the house that belonged to Hiroko's deceased parents. A mansion by Japanese standards and with a kitchen sink enormous by even American standards, the house is still furnished and contains fascinating family mementos along with numerous awards and gifts presented to Admiral Otsuka during his illustrious career.

For me, the best part of the day was meeting Hiroko's youngest son who drove several of us from Kamiooka station to the house and then kindly zipped back to Kamiooka station to retrieve the hostess gift I'd left under my chair at Takano Fruit Parlor.

Once I figure out how to say "I'm such an idiot" in Japanese, I think I'll have it printed on a half dozen t-shirts.

I Should Have Had a V-8, But I'm Glad I Didn't

My Japanese friends who recommended Takano Fruit Parlor in the Kamiooka train station warned me the parfaits are pricey. Takano's is a special occasion sort of destination, the kind of place I can imagine taking my future grandchildren as a birthday treat just like my Grandma Crippen took me and my siblings to Loud & Jackson Dairy on our birthdays. This annual event was as anticipated as Santa Claus coming down the chimney, at least by two of her nine local grandchildren.

So, after my initial visit to Takano Fruit Parlor with the Ancient Mariner, I managed to wait all of eight days before returning there with Fearless and her winsome 12-year old twins in tow. For a few seconds I felt slightly guilty and gluttonous. Then it dawned on me: Grandma visited Loud & Jackson Dairy at least nine times a year and surely reprised this excursion with my out-of-town cousins whenever they visited Jackson.  I am honored to have inherited her sweet tooth. 

Fearless and I ordered the special Valentine's parfaits. The twins opted for the only non-fruit items on the menu, chocolate parfaits, even though I fretted that the cubes in the picture might be tofu rolled in chocolate.

Now I will shut up and show you what the waitress placed in front of us.

Pink mousse heart with red gelatin core front a brownie heart

Rear View: flaky frosted cookie and scoop of vanilla ice cream laced with strawberry sherbet

Whipped cream, strawberry pudding, vanilla soft serve, and strawberry (real) shaved ice

Monica's chocolate parfait.  The cubes are "Melty" chocolates.

I (barely) restrained myself from licking the bowl.

The special Valentine's parfait cost 1450 yen (about $18) and the price included tea or coffee.

With the money I saved by not having my Kamakura-bori lacquered, I figure I can visit Takano Fruit Parlor three more times.

On Japanese Appliances and Fruit Parfaits: Two More Reasons to Visit Kamiooka

Japanese kitchen appliances fascinate me.

My American friends here say drawer-style dishwashers are now available in the US but I will be sure to verify that and do some price checking before I return home empty-handed. My standard dishwasher in Virginia can accommodate twice as many dishes as Shinagawa-san's (pictured) but what's the point of an enormous appliance for only two people?

The refrigerators are tall and narrow, much like Beanpole who jumped at the opportunity to channel Vanna White when I pulled out my camera. Shinagawa-san's model has a freezer drawer in the middle and crisper drawer at the bottom. Some models have a separate drawer for ice.

"Beanpole, while you are in the kitchen, please grab the soy sauce."

"Now, please put the soy sauce back in the refrigerator from the other side."

See what I mean about Vanna White?

The Ancient Mariner and I priced Japanese refrigerators at Yamada Denki Labi in Kamiooka two days before he deployed.  We did not see a model that opens on both sides and I'm not willing to settle for less.

We also checked out irons - the cordless ones delight me - and computers with all the working parts built into the monitor.  Then we wandered back to the train station and sampled the fruit parfaits at the highly-touted Takano restaurant.  Those fruit parfaits alone are worth a trip to Kamiooka.  I am indebted to all my Japanese friends who recommended Takano.

Shomyoji in January

A couple of Navy types flew in from Hawaii this weekend for the Fleet Surgeon's conference the Ancient Mariner is hosting. They spent Sunday recovering from jet lag. The man elected to do this by watching football on television but the woman wanted to do some exploring. Serving as tour guide was not how the Ancient Mariner had planned to spend one of his last days off work before abandoning his lovely bride for five months.

"That's okay," cooed Lovely Bride. "There's a couple of things I want to pick up in Kamiooka. She can come with us and I'll show her Shomyoji temple and my favorite bakery on the way back to Yokosuka." The Ancient Mariner perked up. "Can we visit the wine shop above the bakery?" "Sure, and we can pick up some strawberry cream puffs as a farewell gift for the Knit Wit who's leaving Japan tomorrow." "That's really swell of us." "Oh, rest assured that we'll be eating cream puffs for dinner tonight ourselves."

Shomyoji has not disappointed me yet. The cherry blossoms were glorious the first time I visited and yellow irises ringed the pond when I went back a few months later but it is an even more peaceful setting in January. This could have something to do with the fact that the dozens of turtles which call Shomyoji home are hibernating at this time of year. In their place were dozens of ducks, including a fun-loving pair who insisted on repeatedly mooning us.

After we tossed a coin, said a Hail Mary, and rang the bell in front of the temple, we wandered off to the left and noticed hundreds of angry red men about the size of my thumb lined up along the fence and stuck on every available twiglet. A young couple explained that the little slot in the bottom of the fudomyo-ou contained fortunes that were sold to temple visitors during the New Year's holiday. Fudomyo-ou is apparently one of Buddhism's Five Wisdom Kings.  He is the destroyer of delusions and leads us toward self-control.

Maybe I ought to get to know him better.

We noticed a steep flight of stone steps I had not seen on my previous visits. Hmmm. Up we went. Repeat five times. Huff, gasp, huff. At the summit we found this statue surrounded by tombstones. The base of the statue was thick with coins so we added a few of our own. We thought perhaps the statue represented the infant Buddha cradled by his mother but Dr. T thinks we saw a statue of one of Buddha's chief aides offering peace and security to mankind. Further research is required. (That might be my slogan for 2011.)


Further research is also required regarding a hiking trail I spotted through a gap in the bushes surrounding the cemetery. Based on the looks on my companions' faces, this particular research will be better shared with Ishii.