Japan 2019 – Day 3 (Matsusaka Beef)

Date:  Dec 17, 2019

It comes to the third day of our trip.  We have to say good bye to Hawai Onsen Hotel Bokoro.

8CC62C94-C224-4CEE-8871-C2A5A7D96F64_1_105_c.jpeg

The hotel breakfast will keep our stomach full today.

8D82DBC1-9A31-4A3A-BCCF-DB1E19A5942B_1_105_c.jpeg

A bit of everything.

2DB40E8D-A422-445C-9C85-481C4A55F359_1_105_c.jpeg

Bye bye hotel.

E287B0C9-A9BE-457D-A0F2-040036D65F52_1_105_c.jpeg

After an hour drive, we reached Tottori seafood market.

8161E0CE-1B51-46DF-97E0-9B522488BBD4_1_105_c.jpeg

Tottori is by the Sea of Japan, so the seafood should be nice.

72C0F2B5-F13E-4C6C-9435-628C1E631802_1_105_c.jpeg

It is a small market.  But also lots of seafood.

184D2426-355F-46BE-8768-E3308861AA66_1_105_c.jpeg

Jay and the Home Alone expression.

E916EA05-EC68-4285-BD5E-18CBE950BDB5_1_105_c.jpeg

The crabs.

568560F5-F1B0-4AE7-A1C6-1B7147938998_1_105_c.jpeg

The squid.

FB2239B6-A8F1-4F82-BE2B-70014005453C_1_105_c.jpeg

The squid is big ya.  Bigger my hand.

6426C893-6E98-452A-ACC4-205D2DA1E443_1_105_c

More crabs.

06E7C18C-4233-4892-9798-F53EF5EDA245_1_105_c.jpeg

This fish has thick skins.

69C85E45-D97F-457C-A1C5-2F89D057262C_1_105_c.jpeg

We shopped and bought some huge mushrooms.

C9B2FB97-65EB-420C-9B6E-B896BD8FE331_1_105_c.jpeg

One thing about Tottori is the dark clouds can come in so fast.  Cover the sun and covert the sky.

7C8CA2C4-D45E-49A2-AE99-40AE7C8E2B82_1_105_c.jpeg

We are heading back to Osaka – Universal Studio.

3E6B1C03-B9E2-40D8-A74F-60B74A93ABBD_1_105_c.jpeg

Here we are taking our first train.  Of course, we have returned the car to Nippon-Rent-A-Car.

AF496F19-B002-48EE-88E8-9A2E543ECC6E_1_105_c.jpeg

This train looks new.

A089A548-E8A6-4141-B5A9-C1A9E75E7621_1_105_c.jpeg

Dn’t forget the Bento set.

054134AB-7BDB-461D-99DF-33E364E97791_1_105_c.jpeg

The beef.

FED7F690-0DD1-47B8-A5BF-507399195AF9_1_105_c.jpeg

That has a cooking heating pad below.

676C88C4-3AD2-4441-8ABB-A657C83104DD_1_105_c.jpeg

My wife wants the crab don.

88FA608B-9355-4828-B2D8-E99C295D0826_1_105_c.jpeg

Not too bad either.

B19F7393-D6A4-4BB8-8438-D4E5A1E0AC3F_1_105_c.jpeg

And I take the other version of Tottori crab don.

EC796E35-7B2A-4A04-B72C-E24B33264E7F_1_105_c.jpeg

Comes in a crab lunch box.

6E5AD6DF-A8B2-4E1F-8CAE-E2954A74B735_1_105_c.jpeg

With the crab meat rice.

5F0F972A-1BA5-44AD-99DF-0A9A27836A3F_1_105_c.jpeg

Let’s eat!

E9642EAF-6FEA-42F2-904D-B7E789A70F22_1_105_c.jpeg

All very happy face.  That’s the spirit.

4C3A7627-A19B-4256-BD47-F4066E6FD8A7_1_105_c.jpeg

Oh, we bought this too.  White chocolate chips.  hahaha

F25FDEB2-3462-4D81-A0F2-09AFDD62EC8F_1_105_c.jpeg

It’s just potato chip coated with white chocolate.

CD3ADF07-696F-4AD5-A8A0-8FC190B0E72D_1_105_c.jpeg

This bridge really looks like San Francisco Golden Bridge.

Looks a bit like or a lot like?  What do you think?

B2FDC180-8C8F-4A8E-B95B-4728842EF78E_1_201_a.jpeg

And we are here at the Hotel.  It is not so complicated to get here from Osaka station.

2EFBC6BA-7405-4A50-8777-8B99AB0F5E35_1_105_c.jpeg

Some one so happy.

5176A44D-A65E-4392-8C97-72568DFC1D86_1_105_c.jpeg

Wow, this cheese cake from Tottori is really good.

6993A65A-D724-4A53-99B9-A5129EE1BAEE_1_105_c.jpeg

If you happen to be in Tottori, make sure you buy this and eat.  Very nice.

921E6FFC-819D-448A-B9AE-BD6EEC058DB8_1_105_c.jpeg

Kay, where are you going?

I am heading to Osaka-Namba to look for BIC Camera so that I can play Pokemon Treta there.

7BEAA969-3B1A-443E-BA0A-CB799AF05B3E_1_105_c.jpeg

And that is where we are going.

F93176DA-A72C-4974-B531-9D490E29B82B_1_105_c.jpeg

That looks like something I wanted to buy.  So, I saw it at BIC Camera store in Osaka.  Later when I went to Yodobashi looking for the same thing, I got one of the translator to translate what I wish to Yodobashi sales person.  And that guy actually advise me not to get it.  He tells me my camera wont be able to fit to it.  Later I went to do more research, and really, this device can only fit 2KG carmera + lens.  If you get the advanced version, like this one shown in below, can do the 6.5KG.  So, I don’t think it will work well with my X-H1 + 100-400mm lens + x2 adapter.  So, I must give a thumbs up to Yodobashi’s Vixen sales person.  Yup, he is a Vixen sales person who not recommend me to buy Vixen product.  Instead he recommends me another, which I don’t think the tripod can fit into my luggage.

91FE77F5-F126-4BB9-BF35-5E9F0C85B04C_1_105_c.jpeg

Later I wanted to buy this.

C93793C8-E500-4D0C-9E83-71E69EF0531D_1_105_c.jpeg

And these.  But haiz… don’t want to overload my luggage la.  hahaha

550B94D6-47FE-4900-80FA-1E2AFB8B9CA4_1_105_c.jpeg

Tonight, we are going to meet up Jay & Kay’s preschool friends here, i.e. Kayden and Kay En.

So, we better make our way there. Osaka is such a confusing city. So big and so many ways.

 

Wow, Don Don Donki. They don’t actually called Don Don Donki in Japan, is Don something else.

And you see that big M 松板牛. That’s the meet up place.

 

At first, I thought this is a brand name of the restaurant. As I truly thought that we going to eat Kobe Beef. In my memory, Kobe Beef is the best. But times passed, and Matsusaka beef has actually rise to be the best big beef in Japan, along with Kobe and Omi Beef.

For memory sake. Let’s take a picture. Oh here is the menu.

Not cheap ya. 6 types of parts of the Matsusaka beef cost 13,800 yen per pax. I think that is what we going to have.

Kayden has arrived

And they all have arrived.

OK, here are the parents. We have actually few trips travelled together from Hokkaido to Bintan and now back to Japan.

We actually ordered the 6 parts. Here are the 6 parts of Matsusaka beef. We even have the backside meat (Ichibo) hahaha. The best is Rib Eye and Sirloin of course.

They even provide a beef fat/lard for you to brush the grilling plate.

The kids are learning how to do it too.

All the kids love Matsusaka Beef.  They were pretty quiet.  Very focus in eating their meat.  Even my Kay Kay is busy eating the beef.

12789BC8-A61A-413F-8133-E20D21F0AC8B_1_105_c.jpeg

Let’s cheers. As we are going to spent the next 4 days together in USJ and Kyoto. For the good trip and good food.

66ADFF60-0781-4B2E-8AD0-8D25A6398BF8_1_105_c.jpeg

The kids also cheers.  with their apple juices.

50B5DC63-5985-4747-A4B9-1BA61551B059_1_105_c.jpeg

OK.  The beef is nice.  Up until now, I still thinking I am eating Kobe beef.  But it is another kind of beef this shop is famous for.  i.e. Matsusaka Beef.  I only knew about this after the meal, back to the hotel, and google the shop.

Now, Matsusaka beef probably rank #1 followed by Kobe Beef and Omi Beef closely behind.

9A1393AC-E9EB-45C8-A40E-DFF5014518CD_1_105_c.jpeg

The fat is a lot.  The meat is tender.  The meat is juicy.  Wow.. Amazing.

Must thank them for brining us here.

She said to me: “Ken, we must try this beef.  It is the best beef.  My friend every trip comes here and eat here.  But the price is not cheap.  Per family is about $700”.

I know the beef in Japan is expensive.  So, I agreed.  

We added some stuff at the back. We ordered the exact same platter for our kids. Yes, they are eating adult portion now. And cost us about $500 plus per family.

AFE13545-36FE-44BD-A074-CF028B407623_1_105_c.jpeg

OK, we are not chef.  But we are the one cooking the beef.  So, that only means the beef is super nice.  That is why I always say, as long as the beef ingredient is good, anyhow cook it the beef will taste nice.

535A8D56-C9D2-4DD7-AB73-D50B1EB69517_1_105_c.jpeg

The beef is really nice. This is another part. And got lots of fat.

29B6B9AC-0C5C-48FE-9057-4525337C3490_1_105_c.jpeg

The kids are enjoying themselves. 

2E6EA2BE-F24E-41F1-8CD8-84433218155E_1_105_c.jpeg

Really, you undercook it, or you overcook it, the beef taste the same, diff texture, but taste super nice.

And we added in Matsusaka beef tongue.

Surprisingly, Kay Kay loves this part of meat. Tongue.

Let’s try medium raw.

And it can’t go wrong with two bottles of this Italian Selvarossa.

Kay really enjoy himself ya.

It’s birthday celebration time.

Happy birthday Kayden!

There’s the fine young man. Very mature looking now.

the cup cake for the celebration. Need to buy from outside street.

We had a fabulous night.

This is my cup cake.

After dinner, we go and walk a bit.

So, this is the Osaka Namba, and every where you look is all food.

Mommy saw the sotong ball. So many people queuing up. So, she also go and queue up for half an hour.

Really that good meh?

I tasted it … not so nice leh. May be I don’t like?

I know the kids like this. We later spent a long time in the arcade, and UFO catcher.

Of course, some nice food, we must stop and eat.

It seems that this is another popular store. Melon Bread.

A bit like Hong Kong Po-Lo-Pao.

OK, the combination taste is nice.

May be is the Ice cream or cream they added. For this one is Green Tea flavor.

And we call it off the night. Day 3 is the traveling day from Tottori to Osaka, and we straight away stay in Universal Studio of Japan, one of the hotel at the theme park. And it is also the meet up day to meet up and join-trip with Kayden & Kay En and family.

If you are interested in the menu. Here you are.

Remember, the beef is raw. You are the chef, and you are the one to Peng-gang the beef. To your own taste. Hahaha

This company is one of the very few restaurant got certified as Matsusaka beef supplier.

About Matsusaka beef.

Quality is really impeccable.

These are the beginner menu.

The different part of the beef.

Shows you the cut.

Usually people will taste the different parts of the beef.

There are premium one too. But only have 4 different parts.

And you can go with this. This included Wagyu.

So, this is what we ordered for ourselves.

6 different type of Matsusaka beef.

We ordered for 4 Pax. 27,600 yen. And we ordered 2 platter, one for the parents and one for the kids table.

Then, you have the a-la-cart menu. We ordered the Tongue with salt.

Of course, they have to serve other thing too.

Got sushi.

I got this idea. When I get back to Singapore, I will buy the best Hokkaido beef, and eat it with rice ball.

Some other side dish.

Noodles too.

Rice and others.

That concludes for day 3.

Leave a Reply