Top things to do in Takayama, Japan

Takayama is is filled with interesting sights. It is also the gateway to the hiking paradise of the Japan Alps and Shirakawa-go, a Unesco-listed thatch-roof village. Here is the list of attractions in and around Takayama.

Sanmachi Street

Sanmachi Street is where you will probably head first. This is the Takayama Old Town and definitely the most popular place to visit in Takayama thanks to the street being lined with Traditional Wooden Buildings that have been very well-preserved.

The best time to visit Sanmachi Street is in the morning when it is quieter, in the morning you can really take in the beauty of the buildings. With that being said, many of the shops and cafes are closed early in the morning not seeming to open until about 10:00 am and seeing these open, tasting the food they have to offer and seeing the buzz of Sanmachi Street, later on, is also very good. If you want to do some shopping in Takayama for local and traditional Japanese products, this is where to go.

Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall

Held annually in the spring on April 14 and 15 and in the autumn on October 9 and 10, the Takayama Matsuri festival is one of the great festivals of Japan. During the festival, 11 lavishly decorated floats are pulled through the town. Some of the floats have small stages on which intricate marionettes are made to dance by incredibly complicated arrangements of strings manipulated by expert puppeteers.

Of course, most people are not lucky enough to visit when the festival is being held. But, do not despair, you can check out some of the floats and see videos of the festival at the fine Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition hall. This attraction is easily paired with the nearby Sakayama Hachimangu Shrine.

Shiroyama Park

If you want to get into nature within a 5-minute walk from the busy street of Sanmachi head into Shiroyama Park.

This was perhaps my favourite part of the city. There are many Temples in the park and many footpaths to take. It was also so quiet up here in the park even on a busy Saturday in town so you can walk and hike here.

Hida no Sato (Hida Minzoku Mura Folk Village)

About 2km west of Takayama Station is Hida no Sato, a collection of traditional thatch-roof houses taken from around central Japan and carefully reconstructed here. The houses are spread around park with a central pond. You can enter many of the houses and marvel at the beams and construction techniques. Hida no Sato is too far from the station to walk. A taxi from the station will cost around ¥1,100. Or, you can take the “Sarubobo” bus that leaves from in front of the station.

Street Food

The street food of Takayama is mainly along Sanmachi Street and there are quite a few things on offer from Ice Cream, Mochi, Dango, Rice Crackers to Buns, Sushi, Sushi with Hida Beef.

If you do want to go for a good meal in Takayama, Sanmachi Street is a great place to eat in Takayama as not only does it have Street Food it also has some nice Cafes and Restaurants too.

See more: Top 5 popular Christmas dishes in Japan

Source Internet

Tips to eat Balut like a real Filipino

So you’ve travelled to the Philippines and have finally been convinced to give the notorious balut a shot. Here’s a simple how-to that will allow you to stand alongside locals and look like a seasoned pro at eating this peculiar Filipino delicacy.

What is balut

Balut is a Filipino snack, best served warm, of a hard-boiled duck egg that’s about two to three weeks into development. Depending on the length of incubation, the partially developed duck embryo can have more or less discernible features, from its beak to even some feathers.

As outlandish as this sounds to the foreign traveller, there is something unavoidably tempting about it. Because for a nation to love balut, there must be something to it — right? And frankly, there’s only one way of finding out.

Where to find it

Traditionally, balut vendors are known to walk along streets with their baskets of warm balut yelling, “Baluuut!” They call loudly and allow the second half of the word ring out to attract attention. This type of peddling is more common in residential areas or in more rural provinces. But, today, it’s becoming more common, especially in bigger cities, to find vendors stationed in wet markets, on sidewalks or at parks with signs informing passersby of their product. One balut egg will typically cost around 15 PHP ($0.30).

How to eat it

Create an opening:

Tap the rounder end of the egg on a hard surface and peel just enough shell off to make a small opening. Be careful not to let any juices spill out — this is a very tasty part you’ll want to start with.

Normally, balut vendors will have salt with them for anyone who decides to consume the egg immediately after the purchase. Sprinkle a bit of this salt into the opening and slurp up all the tasty balut soup.

Peel away:

After sipping the warm broth, you can begin peeling off the shell and eating the actual balut meat. Some will say the yolk is the best part. It’s tasty, not all that different from a chicken egg, but its creamy texture is what makes it interesting. Others will say the chick is the best part — that is, if you can get past the thought of it being a partially developed duckling and all. Depending on how many days its been incubated, some balut embryos (those nearing the three-week-old mark) will have a bit more of a crunch to them due to more developed beak and bones.

The balut white, also referred to as bato (stone), can sometimes be unpleasant to chew as it tends to be tough, especially for more developed balut. So many will toss this part away. And because it isn’t too tasty anyway, when people do eat the bato, it’s likely for the sake of avoiding food wastage more than anything else.

See more: Top places to eat street foods in Manila, Philippines

Source: Internet

Must-try foods in Zhangjiajie, China

Find out what to eat in Zhangjiajie? This food list has the top Zhangjiajie dishes and snacks to try. Zhangjiajie cuisine is a blend of traditional Hunan cuisine and local Tujia minority cuisine. It is featured with sour and spicy flavors.

Baby Fish

'Baby Fish' (scientific name is Giant Salamader) is one of Zhangjiajie's special produce, it is also a famous dish in other parts of China. The traditional eating method is to get rid of the phlegm, split its body and remove the waste, then cut into strips and finally wash. Use vegetable oil to fry then put a slice of ginger, shallot, salt and sauce into accentuate the taste - this cooking style is called "Xiao Chao Huang Men".

This dish is not only delicious, but also very nutritious. The baby fish is classed as a second class nationally protected animal, so even though it is yummy, you are not however allowed to catch and kill this type of fish. Good news is that Zhangjiajie has artificially farmed fish on their menu.

Loach Stewed with Tofu

This dish has an interesting Chinese name, Niuqiu Zuan Doufu, which literally means the loach digging into the tofu. Loach is a kind of small fishes with great nutritional value. The dish gets its interesting name because the locals will allow the loaches living with fresh and tender tofu first before cooking.

Loaches and tofu are the main materials of Loach Stewed with Tofu. The locals stew the tofu together with the loaches and add peppercorn, shallot, gourmet power, chopped ginger, sauce and so on other seasonings. The smooth taste of tofu and the soft taste of loach make this dish extremely popular in Zhangjiajie. If you are going to Zhangjiajie and looking for something to east without red and spicy chili, you can have a try of Loach Stewed with Tofu.

Tujia Steamed Pork Belly

Photo ZhangjiajieTourGuide

Tujia steamed pork belly is another dish incredibly popular with local people. It is an essential dish at a banquet. This dish is tricky and time-consuming to create. Take pork belly as raw material, cut into large slices, then steam with some preserved mustard and seasoning in a steamer for 1.5 hours to 2 hours. This dish is good with steamed rice or you can simply top the pork slices over noodles.

Glutinous Rice Cake (Ciba Cake)

Glutinous Rice Cake is one kind of snack made up of steamed glutinous rice. It needs many steps to make such a snack. Firstly, it requires about 2-3 hours to allow the glutinous rice to soak in thoroughly in water before putting it into a wooden pot to be steamed. After cooking, grind the glutinous rice with a pestle and mortar. After several rounds of hard pounding, divide or cut the rice dough into dozens of egg-sized rice balls or square cakes. This is not the end. Once get the balls or square cakes, the locals may fry or roast them and drizzle with brown sugar and other seasonings.

Glutinous Rice Cake is crispy on the outside with a gooey texture inside. The first bite of the slightly spongy and pleasantly fragrant rice cake has such a delightful mouthfeel. Besides, it can cheer you up after the tiring hiking experience on those mountains in Zhangjiajie.

Smoked Blood Tofu

This is a classic Zhangjiajie dish. It is a mix of tofu, pork, pork blood and some seasonings such as pepper, chili, and salt. The mix is made into chunks and then smoked for over a month. It is delicious to have all flavors of tofu, bacon pork, and blood.

In the past, this dish can only be eaten during Chinese New Year Festival. Now, it has become part of local people’s daily cuisine and a must-try dish when you visit there.

See more: Top attractions to discover in Zhangjiajie, China

Source Internet